Unaware Connections
by Dysfunctional Serenity
Summary: Dave Strider and John Egbert have been best friends for over six years though neither of them know any basic information about the other- not even each other's names. But what's to happen when they're suddenly living in the same town and going to the same school without knowing that it's their best friend? And what happens when they start to fall in love all over again?
1. Chapter 1

In case you're new to my stuff: Hey, I'm Aaron. Nice to meet you. A little bit about me: I've been writing literally all my life and I've very proud of my work though I tend to laugh at my past self's attempts. My favorite color is red and I love pasta. I have an amazing materail (matesprit/moirial), his name is Vince and I tend to talk about him a lot so I think it's best that you know that just so you're not confused when I do. He inspires me so much and helps out a ton with all my stuff so he deserves some credit. In case you're reading: Thanks for all your help, I love you Vince! 3

Now that the formalities are out of the way, what say you to getting down to business?

This is a DaveJohn fan fiction and I do not claim to own any of the characters used as they belong to Andrew Hussie. The first seven chapters are the product of a few months of work which I am just now choosing to post on here though I wasn't really expecting to until it was completely done but I decided to do it now anyway because who knows when I'll finish this. I apologize in advance for any errors, this wasn't really edited carefully so yeah.

"Business, you say?" Yes. Business. To the story! Hope you enjoy and I will see you all in chapter 7! Later!

* * *

**~*Dave Strider*~**

As we drove down yet another long road, I began to wonder if we'd ever get there. My older brother and I are on our way to our new house in Washington. We just moved. Against my will. From Texas. To Washington. Fucking _Washington_! It's so cold and wet here, how does anyone even live here? It's crazy and Bro is crazy for making me move here! I know it's not like I had any friends back in Texas but… Texas was just familiar and I'm just sore about having to leave because I was perfectly content there. Bro argues that it didn't matter because I never even did anything anyway; my skin is pale white because I never went out much and even though all the girls had quite the taste in me, I never did anything about it. What could I say, I just wasn't interested. And it's a topic I preferred to stay off of. I actually preferred to stay as far away from it as possible- _completely_ away from it.

I was staring out the window, just like I had been doing this entire trip and watched the dying trees pass, their multi-colored leaves falling around us. It was actually pretty cool to watch, maybe I could get used to this. Our house was away from the rest, a mile or so into a wooded area not too far from town.

'Yeah I'm sure to make so many friends out here, nice thinking Bro.' I thought to him, rolling my eyes.

One of my headphones was pulled on to move it away from my ear so that Bro could tell me that we were here before releasing the headphone, allowing it to snap back against my head. I glared at him from behind my shades, rubbing at my ear lightly though it didn't hurt. He was still mad at me, no question about it. We got into a fight before we left and I guess we were both still pretty upset about it.

I peered out of the windshield to look up at the house. Holy shit… would you look at that, an actual house. First time I'll ever be in one.

There were other people already there, movers with our bigger stuff that got here before we did because they were flown over like the cheaters they are. Bro parked the truck next to the moving vans and I slowly stepped out, looking around as I pulled my full backpack over one shoulder and my sword over the other. I quickly noticed the guys emerging from the van, carrying my turntables though they seemed to be having troubles with the heavy object which made me worry. I took notice that one of the guy's fingers was slipping so I started toward them, intending to help them out to get my most precious possession into my room safely.

When I got close, I called out to them and they dropped it! I flash stepped to catch it before it could touch the ground and when I looked up; I found that Bro had done the same thing. Thank god.

"You fucking idiots!" I screamed at the douchebags that almost wrecked my precious turntables. "Do you know what you just almost did?"

"Dave calm down." Bro said strictly.

"No!" I yelled at him now, my rage burning in my eyes though they're hidden from the world. "You would do the same thing if they dropped yours!" he was silent, knowing I was right. "Just help me get it into my room and I'll get out of the way." I tried to speak calmer now. I didn't like lashing out at him, especially when he was just trying to help, but sometimes I just couldn't help it.

"Fine, which one are you taking?"

"I don't fucking know, this is the first time I've ever been here. Let's just get them inside for now." I rushed, wanting to get them out of the cold. We lifted the heavy material up farther and carried it with ease where the others failed miserably. Walking up the three steps to the open front door, we stepped in and gently set it down in the middle of the living room. Without saying anything I wandered upstairs first, knowing Bro would most likely go for a room downstairs or on ground level. There were three bedrooms and one bathroom up here which made me sigh. This was already enough. I leaned over the railing too see my brother standing at the foot of the stairs, talking to one of the men about how I was just being a little shit due to being in a car for so long. "Do we have to have such a big place? Can't we just get an apartment like the one in Texas?" I called to him and he looked up.

"I know it's not what you're used to but I thought it'd be a nice change of pace." he called back and I looked away, pouting. "Besides we kept getting complaints about our strifing, we won't have that problem here."

"True…" I mumbled. "Fine, no idea what I'm gonna do with it but I call the entire upstairs."

"Fine by me Lil Bro. Downstairs is mine." I heard him say as I moved away from the railing to view all the rooms, trying to decide what to do with each. The one farthest down the hall had a balcony attached so I didn't want that to be my room, it was too open and I can't put my turntables in there, it would be terrible for the sound because I like hearing it echo off the walls but in that room, it'd literally go out the window. The second room which was on the left side rather than the right was the master bedroom with a little bathroom connected so I guess that made two bathrooms up here. I figured this would be my room. There was a small window near the corner so that's where I'd put my bed and in the parallel corner, I'd put my turntables, and on the wall opposite of my bed I'd put my desk.

I sighed, finding I would still have plenty of room left over. I like being closely surrounded by my possessions, I didn't like having so much space… it made me feel small. Maybe I could invest in getting an X-Box and set up a game station or something like what Bro's got.

Finally, I go into the first room which is smaller and for a moment I thought about moving in here instead but it wouldn't fit my stuff if I was to put my bed against the window so the thought quickly left my mind. I sighed as I headed back downstairs.

"Hey, you pick a room yet?" Bro asked, moving back over to my turntables so I joined him in picking them up.

"Yeah, the master bedroom. But Bro, I seriously don't think we need all this extra room. I'm only using one room up there, what are we gonna do with so much space?" I asked as we slowly made our way up the stairs. He sighed and shrugged before answering.

"Anything we want." I didn't argue anymore, knowing that this was already a thing.

With Bro and I helping, it didn't take too long to get everything inside at which point we sent the movers on their way and continued moving things around and getting everything unpacked by ourselves. I was in my new room, unpacking my clothes and other belongings. My bed, turntables, desk, and computer were all already set up and I was just working on getting the small stuff in when I heard a soft knock on my open door and turned to see Bro standing there in the doorway.

"You're not done yet?" he asked as if expecting me to be. I sighed, throwing a shirt back into the box I just pulled it from.

"No, you gotta remember that you're still faster than me. I'm almost done though. Why?" I asked irritably, looking up at him and he shrugged.

"Thought you might wanna go for dinner. We passed a Chinese restaurant on the way here." he suggested and I nodded.

"Sure. Give me a few minutes and I'll be down." he nodded in understanding and left. I sighed again, running my hands through my hair as I told myself to get a grip. I was being so fucking pissy and it was really unnecessary. Though I guess going for a three day drive would do that to anyone. It was only suppose to take us two days to get here but Bro kept insisting that we stop in all the states we crossed. Never again do I want to be a tourist with Bro. Let's just say we had to hurry out of a few places before the cops showed up.

Leaving my stuff where it was, I got up, grabbed my jacket, and headed downstairs where Bro was already waiting.

The ride was silent and kind of awkward but once we got to the restaurant, the awkwardness faded away though we still didn't talk to each other. We were seated and had ordered our food and drinks without even looking at the menu. We knew what we liked.

As we waited for our food, I noticed a strange looking boy staring at me from a few table across ours. It had gotten pretty late and it seemed my family and his were the only ones here- at least from what I could see. He would look away when I made it obvious that I was looking at him while other times, I just stared back from the corner of my eye and he didn't have the slightest clue thanks to my sunglasses. He appeared to be my age, maybe a little younger, with black messy hair and rectangle glasses. He wore a bright blue pull on hoodie, dark jeans, and white running shoes.

I turned my head to him in hopes that he would look away which he did but looked back to me a moment later and waved at me with a slightly red face and a dorky cute grin. I sighed in annoyance and turned my head away, hoping that he would just leave me alone because I _really_ didn't want to deal with anyone right now.

"I gotta take a piss, don't wait up for me."

"You kidding me? It's Chinese we're talking about here Bro; I wouldn't wait for you even if you begged me to." I called over my shoulder as he left. "Which would be interesting to see." I mumbled to myself before sighing again, resting my head in my hands. I heard footsteps coming closer before a body slid into the booth in front of me and I looked up to find that kid sitting where Bro just was.

"Uh, I'm sorry to bother you but are you new here? I heard that some people were moving into that big house a few miles from here." he explained politely, smiling welcomingly at me.

I shrugged. "Nah man, we're just passing through." he looked confused and sad.

"Oh… I'm sorry to have bothered you then." he blushed lightly as he spoke before leaving to his own table. Thank god that was over.

Dinner was slow and uneventful, very few words being exchanged between us Striders. And though that kid still looked over at me from time to time, he didn't bother me again which I was glad for.

The ride back home was better than the ride from. We sat in silence and just listened to music, it was comfortable. Once we arrived at said destination, we went our separate ways. He downstairs and I, up. No longer feeling up to finishing unpacking all my shit, I turned on my computer and logged onto pesterchum to see if my best friend was online which, of course, he wasn't. So I occupied my time unpacking the very shit I was avoiding. I was just about done with the last box when I heard the familiar pop of a pester. I sat back at my computer, relieved to find that it was him.

- ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] -

EB: hey.  
TG: geez what took you so long  
TG: i was waiting on you all unpacking my shit and what not  
EB: oh so you finally moved?  
TG: yeah and its such a drag  
TG: you dont even know  
EB: nope.  
EB: i've never moved once before in my life so i guess i don't know.  
TG: man neither have i until i moved to this shit hole  
EB: where?  
TG: nice try  
EB: come on!  
EB: why won't you tell me anything about you?  
TG: cause were friends and friends listen to friends when friends say they want to stay anonymous in a friendship thats potentally damaging to one friends ego and that friend doesnt want the other friend to know who he is because the things that friend says _is_ damaging to his pride and because thats what friends do  
EB: so you don't trust me?  
TG: no its not like that  
TG: i trust you but i just dont want you to know who i am so you dont raise your expectations or something  
TG: you know?  
EB: i think so…  
EB: but i won't judge you at all!  
EB: i promise!  
EB: i actually think you're really interesting god.  
TG: far from  
EB: think what you will.  
TG: and you actually know more about me than anyone  
TG: just not the basics  
EB: well for what it's worth.  
EB: i think you're a really cool guy.

I took a moment to respond.

TG: you think im cool?  
EB: yeah!  
TG: you know i met a strange kid today that kinda reminded me of you  
EB: really?  
TG: yeah he was a dork and kinda nerdy  
EB: hey!  
TG: but you know in a weird cute way

This time, his reply was delayed.

EB: you think i'm cute?  
TG: in a weird dorkish way  
TG: sure  
EB: thanks.  
EB: that means a lot coming from you.  
TG: and this is a perfect example of why i dont want you knowing who i am  
TG: i would never say anything like that  
TG: i would probably insult you and never admit that to you  
TG: the real me is a totally different person from the me you know  
EB: i bet i would still like the other you just as much.  
EB: well i'm going to bed now.  
EB: i have school in the morning.  
TG: thanks for reminding me  
EB: hm?  
TG: i start school here monday  
EB: well you still have a few days.  
TG: yeah  
EB: goodnight!  
TG: night derp

- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering ectoBiologist [EB] -

I sat still in my chair for a moment, thinking over our conversation. He doesn't know who I am and he still thinks I'm cool? He even used that same word too… _cool_. Am I really…? I shrugged it off and turned on some music before unpacking the last of my stuff and going to bed.


	2. Chapter 2

**~*John Egbert*~**

I jolted awake when my alarm began ringing loudly. I sat up and slapped the snooze button as my other hand reached for my glasses on the headboard of my bed. Placing them on my face, I sighed and took them off to clean them with the bottom of my shirt before placing them back over my eyes, glad that they were now clean…ish.

I pulled myself from bed to walk over to my computer and logged onto pesterchum. I had an hour before I needed to leave so I normally checked in with my dear friend. He was on though he didn't seem to be at his computer at the moment. I sent him a message anyway.

- ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] -

EB: hey.  
EB: so how is god this morning?

I yawned and stretched before getting up to go to the bathroom only to return to my room to get dressed.

Once completely ready, I sat at my desk and checked my messages. There was a handful from Jade, ranting about how excited she was for our project presentation which I had to, once again, remind her that it wasn't until next week and the actual project wasn't even done yet. There was one from Rose too; just a simple greeting that I returned. And finally there were three messages from god.

TG: terrible  
TG: I woke up too early  
TG: and now i have nothing to do  
EB: you could've messaged me.  
TG: nah didnt want to risk waking you up  
TG: i started mixing some shit up  
EB: uh…  
TG: ever heard the expression open your ears  
EB: sure…  
EB: no.  
TG: music dude  
TG: music  
EB: oh…  
EB: heheh…. yeah.  
EB: music. :B  
TG: dont you play the piano  
EB: yeah.  
TG: and youve never heard that saying  
EB: nope.  
TG: wow eb…  
EB: shut up i'm still a very talented pianist.  
EB: regardless that i haven't heard your stupid expression.  
TG: whatever derp  
EB: so did you finish it?  
TG: finish what  
EB: the song you were mixing.  
TG: no bro came up and asked if i wanted to have breakfast or go out and do something today  
TG: i declined so he left me alone  
TG: and after that i laid in bed til you messaged me  
EB: sounds like a fun morning.  
TG: tell me about it…

I tore away from the conversation for a moment to grab my i-pod before my eyes glanced at the clock.

EB: holy shit i'm going to be late!  
TG: go then  
TG: message me when you get home  
EB: kay bye god.  
TG: later derp

- ectoBiologist [EB] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] -

I shut the computer down and ran out the door, grabbing my surprisingly light backpack which was sitting by the door waiting for me. I ran to the bus stop, plugging my headphones in and turning my music up as I slowed to a jog. I was still walking up to the group of people waiting as well when the bus pulled in to pick us all up.

Sitting in my usual front right seat, I turned my music up higher to tune out all the voices of my screaming peers. At the next stop we would pick up Jade, and others, and head to school from there. Where I would more than likely continue to be harassed. I didn't really mind it though. I'd long since gotten used to it and sometimes I even found it funny.

I hadn't even noticed that we'd stopped until Jade tapped on my shoulder, waving at me since she knew I couldn't hear her. I moved my bag and scooted over, pulling my left earplug out so we could talk.

"Hey John."

"Hi Jade." I greeted with a bright smile as she sat down next to me. Jade raised an eyebrow and after a minute I questioned her on it. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Oh nothing, you just seem to be in an awfully good mood today." she commented in a 'hint hint' manner.

"What are you talking about? I'm no happier than I was yesterday." I defended myself.

"Riiight… John it's all over your face." she leaned closer. "Come on, tell me what he said." she softly demanded.

"What are you getting at…?" I trailed off, hugging the window as my face began to feel hotter.

"God, silly. What did he say to make you so happy?" my face lit up at the thought of his words. I sighed, holding my hands up for mercy for a moment before whispering in her ear.

"He said I was cute."

"What? Really?" she exclaimed and I covered her mouth with my hand.

"Hush!" I shooshed her quickly, holding a finger to my lips and she nodded so I released her.

"Did you send him a picture or something?" I shook my head.

"He said I'm a dork in a cute way so, stupidly, I asked if he really thought I was cute and he said yeah so…" I shrugged.

"When did this happen and why didn't you tell me sooner?" she asked, pretending to be hurt and I shrugged again.

"Late last night and because I was tired and on my way to bed." she sat, staring at me in a way that said 'I know your secret' which confused me. "What?" I finally asked and she just chuckled, turning to face forward in her seat.

"You so got the hots for that boy." she laughed.

"Wha- Jade we've been over this. I'm _not_ a homosexual." I said loud enough to draw in a few odd glances, feeling my face heat up again after I noticed. "I'm not a homosexual." I mumbled as I put my headphone back in my ear and turned to the window, tuning even Jade out. If she tried talking to me, I wasn't aware of it.

Once we reached the school, I quickly got off the bus and practically ran to my first hour, hoping that no one would bother me there. My good mood was ruined. I sighed, trying to think of things that might possibly cheer me up. Smiling to myself, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and turned off my music before logging into pesterchum regardless that it liked to eat my battery power.

- ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] -

EB: hey.  
TG: hey  
TG: might i just be the first to say that that was the shortest school day ever

I chuckled as I read his message; I knew he could make me feel better.

EB: so short i don't even remember it.  
TG: so youre texting me from your phone huh  
TG: what happened to make you so upset that youd kill the poor thing  
TG: geez whatd it do to you  
EB: always so quick to catch on…  
TG: always  
TG: now out with it  
EB: it's jade.  
TG: who?  
TG: aw man dont tell me you got a girlfriend and didnt tell your best bro  
TG: shits just not right man  
EB: eww no! she's not my girlfriend!  
EB: she's practically my sister!  
TG: whatever you say  
EB: i'm not kidding.  
EB: hey, wait a minute.  
EB: why is it okay for me to tell you the names of my friends but not my name?  
TG: what can their names tell me about you or really do anything at all  
TG: other than save me a whole lot of confusion when you start talking about multiple friends  
EB: nothing i guess.  
TG: there you go  
TG: continue on  
EB: anyway she's convinced that i'm homosexual but i keep telling her that i'm not!  
EB: i just can't seem to get it through her head that i'm not a homosexual.  
TG: ah  
TG: yeah my bro seems to think i am too  
TG: cause even though all the girls are trying to be all over me i ignore them  
EB: your brother thinks you're gay?  
TG: yeah  
TG: and just between you and me…  
TG: i think i might be  
TG: even if just a little bit  
EB: really?  
TG: yeah  
TG: which is so unlike me to be  
TG: or to ever admit  
EB: another reason you don't want me knowing who you are?  
TG: exactly  
TG: but anyway you wanna know the easiest and quickest solution to get that chick to stop thinking youre all up in the gay cloud  
EB: yeah.  
TG: get yourself a girlfriend  
EB: no way!  
TG: why not  
EB: i'm just not interested in that sorta thing right now…  
TG: are you afraid?  
EB: yeah…  
TG: i guess i understand that actually…  
TG: but whatever ya know  
TG: as long as i got my best bro next to me what else do i need

I blushed, smiling to myself bashfully. I didn't know he really thought so highly of me. I guess it actually felt nice to know that I was cared for by someone that didn't even know my name. Maybe he felt the same and that's why he's so against telling me anything like that, because he gets this feeling too. Suddenly, it all made sense.

"He doesn't look angry to me at all." I heard a familiar voice and looked up to see Rose walking toward me.

"Hey, what are you guys doing here?" I asked, noticing Jade peeking in as well. I quickly stuffed my phone back into my pocket and smiled up at her though I wished that they would just go away.

"Are you talking to your god again?" she teased and I rolled my eyes.

"I think you guys are having way too much fun with that, I'll have to come up with a different name for him." I motioned Jade to come in, telling her that I wasn't mad.

"Are you sure?" she asked, hesitantly stepping closer to us. "I'm really sorry…"

"It's fine, really." I reassured her and she hugged me, thanking me. "And yes, I am talking to him." I answered Rose before pulling my phone back out to say goodbye to said god, making sure to keep my phone out of the girls' sight and logged off when I was done.

"So what's this I hear about God calling you cute?" the blonde girl inquired and I sighed. I got the sinking feeling that today was going to be long.

**~*Dave Strider*~**

I sighed deeply as I said good bye to Derp. I thought about logging onto my blogs or finding some other bull shit to do online but decided I'd just get bored anyway. Not that I wasn't already… there just wasn't anything I felt like doing. Maybe I'd take Bro up on his offer to do something today. Exploring my new surroundings seemed like something I would need to do sooner or later, why not sooner?

Walking downstairs, I called Bro's name and heard him call back, summoning me farther down into the depths of our house. Treading down another flight of stairs, I once again called for my brother, unsure which room he was in.

"In here." his voice came from the second door to the left so I walked in, finding him playing his Xbox. "What do you need Lil Man?"

"I was wondering if you still wanted to go somewhere…" I trailed off as I looked around his room. He hadn't changed it much from what it was when we were living in the apartment in Texas, though I hadn't either. But he seemed to have the same problem I did, too much empty space. He paused his game and turned around on the futon in the center of his room to face me.

"Sure. Have anything in mind?" he asked and I just shrugged. He pulled himself to his feet to turn the TV off though he left his game on before grabbing the jacket lying on the back of the futon and slid his arms through the sleeves.

"Not really. I thought maybe we could just explore, wander around the unknown." I rolled my eyes after a moment at how stupid my own comment was but Bro picked it up anyway.

"Well I'm sure the unknown has plenty to show us." he cackled as we stepped out of his room and headed upstairs.

"Yeah, whatever." I attempted a laugh, glad that he was at least trying to be nice while I was still stressed about this move. Bro grabbed his keys before we left, locking the door behind us.

As we drove around town, we talked about things that might be cool to do for the day while all the other kids were in school but nothing really seemed interesting.

Finally, we drove passed something that got my heart pumping. I was so excited; I started smacking Bro's arm as an attempt to get his attention.

"Bro, Bro, Bro, look, Bro, dude Bro, look!" I shouted, leaning closer to the door to stare at the building as though it would disappear. Just because of this, I liked Washington a little better.

"Geez what is it Dave? You're acting like a little girl."

"Like you're one to talk, Mr. My Little Pony." I shot back before pointing out the window. "Just look already, will ya?" he sighed and looked to what I was gesturing to.

"Oh hell yes!" he exclaimed, pulling into the parking lot. I was the first out of the truck and first into the building. I kept my façade up as I looked around at everything though I wanted to act how I felt, like a little kid at an amusement park. It was like fucking Christmas up in this bitch. Bro came in after me and glanced around before heading to the counter to pay for our session. "Come on Dave, we're joining the group getting ready now." he called me over after a minute.

"Kay." I said, following him through a door that led into a room lit only with black lights. The room was full of brackets with light up vests and guns. Laser tag; man it's been forever. We joined the others in getting into the vests and the instructor started going over the rules.

"There are going to be two teams, red and blue. And you guys can decide who will be on what teams." Bro and I looked at each other before raising our hands, calling dibs on the red team.

"Oh and me and my little brother here wanna be on our own team." Bro practically demanded. "All against us."

"Well we have to-"

"And what makes you think you're better than us, huh?" one of the guys asked with a harsh voice, cutting in on the instructor.

"We _are_ better." I said simply as if he should've known, he'll soon learn.

"Good luck trying to catch us. In fact, I'll give you five bucks for every tag you can get on either of us." Bro smirked and the guy growled, smirked back, and accepted our challenge so the instructor set it up. "Just keep in mind that if you get hit, I'm not buying you a single apple juice for a year." Bro stated and I looked at him with worried eyes.

"Hey now, that's a bit much don't ya think?" he smirked down at me and I realized that he wasn't really even threatening me, so much as testing me and my skills. Our strifes were both for fun and to test each other. And though strifing with real swords is more dangerous and life threatening than playing with toy guns, he was reminding me how much more important this one was. And yeah, he was also threatening my AJ to make sure I would do my best but either way, I wouldn't let him down.

We were let loose and everyone split up expect for me and Bro.

"Let's take these assholes out." Bro chuckled darkly, holding his gun at the ready.

"Fuck yeah." I smirked back, my voice filling with a certain dominating darkness.

"Let's begin!" the computerized voice shouted and the lights went out only to be replaced with black and strobe lights.

"No holding back." Bro said, offering his fist and I met it with my own.

"Never." I replied before we both took off in opposite directions. Time to kick some ass.

... ... ...

My eyes scanned the leaderboard, looking for my vest's name, Nexus. Upon finding it, I looked at my score... 127,523! Fuck yeah! Then my eyes caught the score above mine. Dawn: 148,619... fuck. I glared up at 'Dawn' from behind my shades and he just smirked back.

"Fuck you..." I mumbled, folding my arms as I turned away from him.

"Aw don't be like that Lil Man, you'll catch up to me eventually." he stated, slinging an arm over my shoulders to pull me closer. At least neither of us got hit, yeah, big surprise there. Note the sarcasm. Hearing a frustrated sound, we turned around to watch the other guys leave, zero points under their names and no extra money in their pockets.

"Better think twice before going up against Striders." I said though I knew they couldn't hear me as Bro offered a fist bump which I complied with.

"Wanna play again?" Bro asked and I turned back to him.

"You and me, one on one? Hell yeah, let's do it." we turned back to the counter only to see a girl there, paying for a game and after a moment she turned to us.

"Hope you don't mind a third player." her voice was blank yet soft and her eyes were a calming pale purple though it was obvious that they were just contacts. Her hair was almost the same light shade of blonde as mine and Bro's and it was held up by a purple headband. I'd dare to say that her skin might be paler than my own and the black lipstick spread nicely over her soft looking lips may have something to do with that. She wore dark clothing and a kind, welcoming smile though it was kind of more like a gentle smirk.

"Not at all, it may be more fun that way." I invited. Why was I so comfortable with her? It made no sense. I noticed Bro was giving me an odd look but I shrugged him off.

"Excellent." she said, returning my attention to her. I heard Bro sigh as he made his way over to counter to pay for another game. "I am Rose Lalonde." the girl introduced herself, holding her hand out for me which I took.

"Dave Strider. And that's my older brother." I gestured to him and she waved, watching as he waved two fingers over his head in a silent greeting. I sighed, knowing he was upset. I was looking forward to our match too but what the hell, it's not like I could just leave Rose hanging because then she wouldn't have anyone to play with when we were done. Wait, now that I thought about it... why was she here on a school day? "So Rose, why aren't you in school?"

"Call it Fate." I looked at her funny. "I felt the urge to come here and since it's a Friday and my classes most likely won't be doing too much, I figured it wouldn't matter if I ditched. I did, however, go in just long enough to say hello to my friends and get my assignments to complete over the weekend." she explained and I nodded, not really caring about all that fate bullshit, fuck that nonsense.

"We're good to go." Bro stated as he walked passed us. I sighed and followed him, jogging slightly to walk by his side.

"What's wrong with you?" I demanded in a whisper.

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you?" he whispered back in the same tone I had used. "You completely ignore all the girls that try coming onto you in Texas but when we move here, you're suddenly all over the first girl you see? I mean what the actual fuck Lil Bro? I thought you were gay."

"One: I'm not gay. Two: I'm not 'all over her' there's just something about her." I said, looking back at her and she waved weakly. "Something dark and mysterious..." I trailed off as I looked forward again, not unsure how to explain the vibe I got from her. We stepped into the vest room where Bro and I got the same vests on and Rose slipped into 'Twilight.' "And I know this was supposed to be our day to hang out or whatever but it's not like we could just leave her hanging." Bro nodded though didn't say anything. "I'll make it up to you, okay?" I said as we walked into the battle ground.

"Sure." his emotionless voice said before he took off.

"Sorry about that." I said to Rose and she shook her head.

"It's alright." she stated before heading off as well, leaving me by myself. I sighed and got ready when the computer voice told us to begin.

... ... ...

Looking over the leader boards, I was quite surprised and Bro seemed to be too. Bro took the lead and I was right behind him but... while she still pulled out in last, Rose had a pretty good score on us. She was pretty good.

"Well... I believe I'll be getting back to school now, I've missed all of first period already." Rose stated as she checked her phone for the time.

"I thought you were just ditching today." I questioned.

"Yes, well, I have nothing else to do now so I'll be going back." I thought about inviting her over but quickly thought better of it. I needed to hang with Bro for the rest of the day.

"Oh, well, we're heading over there anyway; we can give you a lift if you need one." I was surprised when Bro spoke up. I turned to him, giving him the same funny look he was giving me earlier. "What? Anyone who can take a hit on me, has my respect." he looked at Rose, offering a smile. "I like her." he said, holding his fist out for her and she giggled as she fist bumped him.

"That would be nice, thank you." the girl said, with a small nod of her head.

"What are we going to the school for?" I asked as we all headed for the exit.

"Fill out your paperwork so you can start on Monday as planned." Bro answered and I grumbled. I fucking hated school, it was so boring. All the time. Nothing but boring. No one said anything as we got into the truck, Rose and I sitting in the back as Bro took the driver seat. We all stayed in silence for awhile before Rose spoke up.

"I have a few friends that would really like to meet you." I groaned, not wanting to face more people. I didn't like people and I just wanted to hang with Bro since he was making me feel bad enough, regardless that he was cool with Rose now. But the fact that we've stopped doing cool things to go do paperwork tells me that he's given up on our hang out which he had so obviously made clear that it's my fault.

I sighed. "Can it wait til Monday?"

"Of course."

"And how do you know they wanna met me? We just met." I asked though I really didn't care, it was a stupid question; maybe they just liked people like that one nerdy kid from the restaurant.

"They're always looking for new friends." she answered and I sighed again, massaging my forehead as I felt a headache coming on.

We all made small talk to get to know each other a bit better though Rose and Bro talked more than I did, I was more or less just listening. Though after some time, I spaced out, staring out the window.

"Dave, are you alright?" Rose's voice pulled me back as she placed a hand on my shoulder. I turned to face her to see that she was already half out of the truck. Looking passed her, I realized that we were at the school and they had probably been trying to get my attention for a bit.

"Yeah." I answered, following her out. Once I walked around the truck, Bro ruffled his hand in my hair.

"Yo, you doing okay there? You're acting strange, where's my Lil Man and what'd you do with him?" Bro joked but I quickly shoved his hand away from me and fixed my hair.

"He's out for lunch." I answered rudely before walking ahead of them. I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. I don't know why I snapped at him like that, I've just been stressed and he just… arg and he doesn't understand. I'm hurting and he doesn't understand. And if everything goes right, which it will, he'll never understand… because he'll never know.

I walked into the building and wandered down the hall, looking for the bathroom. I felt like splashing water on my face, maybe it would help and… well there's something I needed to check on. I walked around for a little bit, wondering where the hell I was. This place was like a god damn maze and so god damn confusing.

"Fucking finally." I muttered under my breath when I found it. I walked into the male's bathroom and checked to make sure no one else was in there before peeking outside; checking to make sure no one was coming. I was in the clear so I made my way back over to the sinks to stand in front of the last one, turning the cold water on, only adding a little of the hot. I looked around again before cautiously taking off my shades and placing them on the top edge of the sink. I cupped my hands under the water and bent over a little as I brought my hands up to my face, the cool water running soothingly over my white skin.

I took in a deep breath before looking up into the mirror directly in front of me, searching my own crimson eyes for the stories they told. You see… this is the one thing that we Striders have to face. Our own emotions. Not only are they oddly colored but our eyes hold all of our secrets, all our joy, all our love, all our hate, all our sorrow… all our pain… all my fear. This is everything we hide from the rest of the world… this is everything we hide from ourselves.

I sighed, rubbing my head a little as a weak attempt to ease my headache. Grabbing my glasses to recover my eyes, I sat down with my back to the wall and leaned my head back against the tile. I would just hide out in here until Bro was done, at which point he would either come find me or just text me. I almost jumped at the sudden vibration in my pocket and tore my phone out of it, pissed that it was going off, pissed at whoever was trying to talk to me when I just wanted to be alone… until I saw who it was. I felt relief washing over me, so much that I felt like I could cry. But I couldn't. I couldn't ever cry, for any reason.

- ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] -

EB: hey god.  
EB: we're not doing anything in my second hour and i'm so bored so i thought that i would talk to you.  
TG: eb…  
EB: whats up?  
EB: are you okay?  
TG: im hurting eb…  
TG: im hurting and no one understands  
EB: what happened?  
EB: and that's not true.  
EB: i understand and i'm sure your bro does.  
TG: no he doesnt  
TG: he doesnt even care  
EB: don't say that.  
EB: you know he cares a lot about you!  
TG: no he doesnt  
TG: he didnt even ask me if i was okay with moving  
TG: he didnt even take it into consideration that i hate the cold and where we moved is fucking cold  
TG: he only cares about himself

My head jolted up when someone walked in with his eyes focused on his phone. When he noticed me, he instantly froze in his tracts and seemed uncomfortable. Oh shit… it was the dorky kid from last night.

"H..hey aren't you-"

"Fuck off; I don't want to talk to you." I snapped at him before lowering my head and running my finger over my phone to pretend I was doing something on it though I was really watching him. He looked around for a moment and rubbed his neck as if unsure what to do. He finished his text and moved to the sink farthest away from me to pretend he was washing his hands. What was he doing?

EB: turntechgodhead stop thinking like that! your brother loves you very much and maybe he just doesn't know how to show it! you know when i was little i used to think my dad didn't love me because of some of the things he did, when really he was doing those things to help me and i just took them wrong. so tell me, have you ever stopped to think that maybe whatever your bro did, he did it because he's not sure how else to do it and your just taking it wrong because that's not how you want him to do it?

I stopped for a moment to reread the message and think about it. I sighed, knowing he was right. I was just over reacting.

TG: not until now no thanks derp

"Hey are… are you okay?" the boy hesitantly asked, looking down at me worriedly. He looked back at his phone for a moment with saddened eyes when it vibrated on the counter's surface but he ignored it. "I usually hide out in here when I'm distressed." he chuckled nervously. "Is that what you're doing too?" so that's why he seemed so awkward, it's because I'm in his spot.

"I'm fine; it's none of your fucking business." I shot at him and he shut up, looking hurt but it's not like I cared. He turned around, picking his phone up off the sink before leaving. After he was gone, I continued rubbing my head.

EB: anytime god.  
EB: so what did he do anyway?  
TG: maybe another time…  
TG: im actually feeling better so id rather not talk about it again right now  
EB: i understand.  
EB: and i'm not going anywhere so whenever you want to talk, i'm here.

I looked up at the entrance to make sure no one was there before allowing a small smile to form on my lips.

TG: i know you are  
TG: and i really really want to thank you for that  
EB: hehe it's nothing.  
EB: i'm just being a good friend, that's all.  
TG: no its more than that…

I got a text from Bro saying that he needed me to sign something so I got up and walked out of the bathroom, paying no attention to the dark haired boy standing outside but I felt his eyes on me until I rounded the next corner.

It was a lot easier to find my way back to the office than it had been to get away from it. But when I entered, Bro didn't look at me; he just showed me what I needed to do and said I could leave if I wanted to. Maybe… maybe EB was wrong, maybe Bro really didn't care. I mean, he won't even look at me. I took the truck key from him and went out to lie down in the back. What if he hated me?

**~*John Egbert*~**

I watched the blonde haired guy leave and sighed when I could no longer see him. So much crap is going on today. Like, is it the National Lotsa-Shit's-Gonna-Happen-Day today or something? Because I didn't get the memo.

EB: i just don't know what to do, i wish i could help him more…  
EB: but he thanked me and said he was feeling better so i did help in some way i guess.  
EB: i dont know, i'm confused.  
EB: what do i do?  
TT: You know him better than anyone so do what is right for him and it sounds like you've already done just that.  
EB: yeah i guess.  
TT: Just talk to him some more and things will play out as planned.  
EB: whatever you say rose.

- ectoBiologist [EB] ceased pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] -

I suppose she's right, he did say that I helped and I trusted that he wouldn't lie to me. He never has before, if he was still upset he would just ask that I keep talking to him and I would until he was alright. I closed her chat and opened God's again and read the message that I had gotten while I was talking to Rose.

TG: no its more than that…

My face lit up and I covered it, trying to calm the heat.

EB: what do you mean by that?  
TG: oh its nothing  
TG: forget i said it  
EB: well if you want to talk about it, we can.  
TG: i dont  
EB: okay…

He didn't text back after that and I figured either he was done talking for now or he was busying so I went back to my Home Economics class that I had excused myself from to talk to God and left pesterchum running just in case he needed me again.


	3. Chapter 3

**~*Dave Strider*~**

I stared out the window as we made our way home after finishing up at the school. As of now, I was officially a student at whatever that school's name is. Hell I wasn't paying attention and I really didn't give a damn. I had to go in on Monday morning and get my schedule set up which meant that I wouldn't be on any of my teacher's rolls and as long as I showed up to say that I was the new kid and slipped out, I could get away with ditching for a few days. It would be the perfect crime. But whatever, I didn't care and I didn't want to think about being around people right now. I just… I turned slightly to peek at Bro. He was facing forward, paying attention to only the road.

We were driving down the road leading to our house when I spoke up without thinking and before I could stop myself.

"Bro do you love me?" I lurched forward when Bro suddenly slammed on the breaks though my arms flew forward to catch the dashboard and stop me from moving too much. "What the hell man?" I yelled at him, fully turning to face him.

"What makes you think that I don't?" his raised voice demanded though he sounded scared. He took off his glasses and my eyes widened. They were fearful and hurt. "Dave, I love you more than anything. All the irony in the world, all the Smuppets- even Lil Cal… none of them even compare to you. You're more important to me than any of those things _combined_." holy shit… that was some serious shit he just threw on the line. "I love you Dave." his voice lowered as he spoke and tears showed at the rims of his eyes though they didn't fall. But I thought… I thought Strider's weren't supposed to cry. I mean, I know he's not actually crying but still. I mean… holy fuck I must really mean the world to him. I stared into his eyes a little longer before looking away, not wanting to see the pain I'd caused him by doubting his love for me. I was a terrible brother and even worse of a human being.

"You… you never show it…" I muttered, trying to hold back tears of my own.

"I know and I'm sorry. I'm not the best at being a parent and I know that I can't express my feelings correctly to you but I'm trying. I _am_ trying." he reassured.

"And what about moving here? You didn't even ask me."

"I thought it would be a nice change of pace. Where we're living is a lot quieter than the noisy place in Texas, there's not as many people and I hear they're all fairly decent people." he explained, shrugging his shoulders. "I thought we could both use a restart since neither of us were really doing anything before and I thought maybe you'd be able to make some friends here or something." he sighed as he leaned back in his seat. "I hate the cold and I know you do too but we both love the rain and it rains a lot here… and I don't know, maybe I just knew you'd never agree because you were afraid to leave so I never asked. I just felt that we both needed to get away." he shrugged again slightly.

"Do you… do you think I'm a bad brother?" he looked back at me as I turned my gaze to him and his bright orange eyes.

"No. No, _never_, you're the best little brother anyone could ever even hope to have and I'm just lucky I get to have you. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me Dave." he spoke gently, moving his hand to hold the side of my face, rubbing soothing circles on my cheek with his thumb. "And honestly, I've just been worried that you were disappointed in me. I felt like I've been the bad brother and I was worried that you hated me."

I shook my head. "I couldn't hate you…" I bit at my bottom lip when my voice cracked. He nodded and thanked me, saying the same thing and for a moment we sat in silence.

"I'm really trying here… so please just tell me that you'll try too." I was trying really hard now not to cry so I only nodded and he smiled back, holding his arms out for me. "I love you Lil Man."

"I love you too Bro." I replied, my voice cracking even more as I scooted over to wrap my arms around him and he did the same. We sat there holding each other for a good awhile before Bro unwrapped one of his arms from its place to grip the steering wheel and start driving home again.

We spent the rest of the day and a fair amount of the night watching shitty movies on his Xbox, for ironic purposes of course, to cheer ourselves up. All while being cuddled on the futon in his room without our shades on, no secrets were kept.

... ... ...

I breathed in a familiar scent that got me to open my sleepy eyes. I looked around only to find that I was in Bro's room in his bed but he wasn't here with me anymore though there was still a slight imprint on the mattress next to me where he had been laying all night. I must have fallen asleep during one of those shitty movies and he carried me over to his bed instead of taking me all the way upstairs. He'd probably been tired too so I didn't blame him and I didn't mind sleeping with him at all, sometimes I actually preferred it. There were just some nights that I felt better with someone next to me. I grabbed my glasses off of the nightstand and put them on before heading upstairs where I found Bro… making breakfast?

"Oi…?" I trailed off, not knowing how to respond to the situation.

"Oh hey, uh… yeah." he gestured to the food in front of him that he was making. "Breakfast." he said awkwardly.

"So I can see…" I checked the clock. "At four in the afternoon." I cautiously stepped closer, seeing that he was making sausage and eggs. "Why?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him and he shrugged.

"I didn't know what else to do but I felt I had to do something for yesterday." he explained though he sounded unsure like he knew that wouldn't clarify anything. Which was right, it only made it more confusing.

"Why?" I repeated and he sighed.

"Isn't this what normal people do when they have heart-to-heart talks? Make breakfast for each other or some shit?" I just looked at him funny.

"How would I know? Last time we tried making breakfast together, it ended in a strife after you sliced my toaster in half. I went two months without any pop tarts."

"Whatever, let's just go for some take out." he sounded upset as he walked away from the stove which I moved toward. I turned the burners off and removed the two pans from the hot ones since the food looked done. I grabbed the fork Bro must've been using and picked up a sausage and took a bite of it. An action that made Bro look at me like I was out of my mind.

"It's pretty good, tastes just perfectly fine actually." I nodded in approval as I took another bite. "Though I think if I hadn't come up, you would've set the house on fire." I laughed and he just rolled his eyes with a soft smile before coming to dish up.

... ... ...

"Yo can we stop playing for a bit and go get something to eat?" I asked after pausing our game. After we finished eating breakfast or lunch or whatever that was, we had retreated down to Bro's room to play games which is where we've been for who knows how long. All I knew was that I was hungry and wanted food.

"Yeah, I'm pretty hungry too." Bro chuckled as he stood up, placing his controller down on his seat before offering his hand to help me up.

"How long of we even been down here?" I asked as I took his hand, accepting his help.

"Hell if I know." he shrugged as we headed upstairs. "But I'd take a bet it's been more than a few hours…" he trailed off, staring outside. I followed his gazed to see that the early morning sun was just coming up over the mountains.

"Holy fuck…" I checked my phone, seeing that it was a little passed five in the morning. "No wonder we're so hungry, it's five."

"Well whatever, let's get some food and we'll go to bed when we get back." I nodded in agreement so we left it at that. Once in the car, my phone went off to reveal that Derp's been trying to nab my attention after school Friday, all day yesterday, and this morning.

- ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] -

EB: hey what's up?  
EB: are you there?  
EB: dude where are you?  
EB: so one of my friends told me that she met someone and wants me to meet him on monday and i'm really nervous.  
EB: she's a really good friend of mine so i want to make sure that this guy isn't going to hurt her but at the same time i'm kind of afraid to meet him.  
EB: i mean if she likes him then there's no telling what kind of person he is.  
EB: if he's anything like her, he could be really scary.  
EB: well you're probably busy doing other things so i'll let you go.  
EB: i'm going to bed.  
EB: night god.  
EB: good morning.  
EB: still not around, huh?  
EB: i'm starting to worry about you god…  
EB: message me back when you can and let me know that you're alright.  
EB: night.  
EB: are you gonna answer this time?  
TG: aw shit dude im so sorry  
EB: dude!  
EB: where the hell have you been?  
EB: i've been worried sick!  
TG: i know and i cant apologize enough  
TG: im so sorry  
TG: but me and bro had a heart to heart on friday after which we went home and watched a bunch of shitty movies and went to bed and when we got up we started playing games and havent stopped til just now  
EB: holy crap that's a lot of game playing!  
TG: yeah my eyes are so sore  
EB: hahaha well that's what you get for making me worry!  
EB: karmas a bitch, isn't it?  
TG: got me there  
EB: so it's safe to assume that you and your brother are cool now?  
TG: yeah  
EB: that's good i was worried.  
TG: so whats this about your friends new boyfriend  
EB: i'm not sure that i want to meet him.  
TG: youll be fine  
TG: just give him a chance and if you like him you like him and you can be friends  
TG: if not then either kick his ass and tell him to stay away from your friend or accept that your friend likes him  
TG: but if you become friends with him just be sure to make it clear that the position of your best friend has been taken  
TG: and if he doesnt like that he can suck it  
EB: god be nice.  
EB: this is my very close friend's boyfriend we're talking about here.  
EB: we wouldn't want to scare him off.  
TG: what does that matter to me?  
TG: youre the only thing that matters to me in that case  
EB: god…

Bro stopped at the drive through at McDonald's and since it was the breakfast menu, I ordered some hash browns and a few egg and cheese biscuits with a medium apple juice. Praise God for AJ and who's God? I am. Fuck yeah.

TG: well im gonna go soon  
TG: were getting some mcdonalds before going to bed and we just got our food  
EB: okay.  
EB: well good luck tomorrow at school.  
EB: and good morning.

I quickly turned to face the window so that Bro couldn't see my face as I smiled.

TG: very good morning derp

**~*John Egbert*~**

I was so nervous to meet this guy… it was Monday morning and I was freaking out about Rose's possible boyfriend. I had been thinking of the worst all night and hadn't gotten much sleep. I told myself over and over to just chill and remember what God told me as I waited for Rose's text, telling us where to meet up. I paced in the back of my first hour. I had come here to drop my stuff off and ended up pacing in here rather than leaving to go find Rose. I sighed and finally exited the room. She said that she needed to find him first and Jade had followed her so… all I had to do was wait but I grew tired of waiting and went after them even though I had no idea where they were.

- tentacleTherapist [TT] began pestering ectoBiologist [EB] -

TT: I found him.  
EB: cool, where are you?  
TT: In the cafeteria.  
EB: okay, i'll be there in just a second.  
TT: Alright.

- tentacleTherapist [TT] ceased pestering ectoBiologist [EB] -

I suddenly got this sickening feeling in my gut but headed for the lunch room regardless.

Once there, I found Rose and Jade talking to a guy with light blonde hair and pale skin. He wore a white shirt with long red sleeves, black skinny jeans, and red high top converse. And… wait a minute… no, really? Why? I walked up to them and grabbed Rose's arm to drag her away from the others.

"Oh you've gotta be shitting me…" I heard the other boy's voice mumble.

"John what are you doing?" Rose asked when I stopped walking and let her go.

"I don't want you to date him Rose; I've had nothing but bad experiences with this guy." I told her while keeping an eye on him. "Now, I'm saying this as your friend. You don't have to stop seeing him because of me but I just want you to know that I'm not comfortable with it." she blinked incredibly at me a few times before starting to laugh and pull me back towards the other two.

"We're not dating John, we just met on Friday and hit it off." she explained as I looked at the guy that now stood in front of me, un-amused.

"You don't say…" he returned my gaze and though I couldn't see his eyes, I could just tell he felt the same as I did. Cautious and awkward. "Hello." I spoke with a low voice, trying to sound more intimidating than I really was.

"Sup?" he replied, his voice relaxed and bored.

"You doing any better than you were on Friday?" I asked with the same tone as I folded my arms over my chest.

"Yeah I am, thanks for asking." he mocked my stance.

"You're welcome, I'm glad to know you're feeling alright. I'm John, John Egbert." I didn't offer my hand and oh my god- I felt so badass like James Bond or something!

"Dave Strider." we sat in a tense silence as we both glared at each other. "We good here?" he asked, sounding kind of upset so I nodded.

"We're good." with that, we both turned on our heel and walked the other direction.

"What just happened?" Jade asked as we left.

"I'm not certain…" Rose answered her. I left and walked back to my first hour to sit at my desk. I heard a frustrated sigh and turned to the door to see Dave standing there.

"Aw man!"

"I think I'm in the wrong class." he grumbled as he looked over his schedule.

"John!" I heard Jade's voice call before she too appeared in the doorway. "Oh are you in this class too Dave?" she asked with a cheerful voice as she peered over his shoulder to glance at the piece of paper in his hand. "Human Biology, yup! John, Dave's in our class! Isn't that just great?"

"Fuck..." "Fuck…" we both sighed.

**~*Dave Strider*~**

I spent most of first hour staring at this John guy, wondering why the hell he kept popping up everywhere. After several more minutes, I decided to talk to Derp to try and calm my nerves even though the better chance is that he wouldn't be on since he didn't like using pesterchum on his phone very much due to it killing his phone.

- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering ectoBiologist [EB] -

TG: i hate it here already  
TG: and i keep running onto that one kid  
TG: i think he hates me

As I thought, no answer. But after a few minutes of staring out the window, my phone vibrated with a new message from Derp.

EB: what? that's impossible!  
EB: no one could hate you, you're too sweet.  
TG: im flattered eb  
TG: but we keep running into each other when im being emotional so i shoo him in a harsh way cause i cant let anyone see me like that  
EB: i think maybe he just got the wrong impression then.  
EB: explain it to him and there won't be any hard feelings.  
TG: explain it to him?  
TG: explain to a complete stranger that im actually an emotional person and i didnt mean it when i said that what was wrong with me wasnt his business?  
TG: sure  
TG: ill get right on that  
EB: what's wrong with being an emotional person?  
TG: i cant be an emotional person  
TG: its not right  
EB: why not?  
TG: you wouldnt understand…  
TG: its…  
TG: its a family thing  
TG: can we please leave it at that?  
EB: sure.

I sighed and looked around the room before my eyes landed on Jade. We hadn't talked much but she seemed like an okay person. She was a bit too upbeat for my taste and I could tell she would get on my nerves at time but she was busy working on her assignment. My eyes moved from her to John again who was just putting his phone away before taking down some notes on what the teacher was saying. I tried to pay attention to the lecture but I spaced out again staring outside so I returned to texting my best friend.

TG: so tell me about your friends boyfriend  
TG: howd meeting him go  
EB: oh, well it turns out that they're not dating but they still seem too chummy.  
TG: why do i get the feeling them not dating is a good thing  
EB: because it is.  
TG: how come  
EB: he seems kinda like a jerk.  
TG: man he must have really done something wrong to get on your bad side  
EB: it's not that…  
EB: i'm conflicted about him…  
TG: what do you mean?

Why was I suddenly nervous? Usually when people say stuff like that, it meant that they liked the person so does that mean he likes this dude? Shit, no, stop thinking like that. He's not a homosexual, remember? And… even if he does like someone else, I'd always be his best friend, right? Besides, it's not like I'd ever tell him that I actually… I couldn't tell him.

EB: well i can tell that there's something wrong with him, like he's in pain and just wants someone to see that.  
EB: but whenever i try to help he shoves me away.  
EB: it's like he hides it all by being a jerk but he doesn't actually mean any of it.  
EB: it's frustrating.

I didn't answer for a while. I mean… just… holy hell it was like he was talking about me.

TG: wow…  
EB: what?  
TG: sounds a lot like me…  
EB: oh.  
EB: i'm sorry…  
TG: changing the subject  
EB: what's making you hurt?  
TG: hows your day been going so far  
EB: maybe i can help  
TG: seriously eb just drop it

I heard someone sigh sadly and turned to my right to see John with his phone out, hidden under his desk. He looked sad and a little frustrated but I shrugged him off and turned my head away to look out the window again.

EB: okay, i'm sorry.  
EB: i just want to help you, that's all.  
TG: i know i just really dont want to get into it  
EB: i understand god… it's okay.

We stopped talking after that and I almost jumped when the bell suddenly rang loudly overhead.

... ... ...

My second hour Geometry class went by rather slowly and all we did was play fucking 'get to know the new kid' games. Fuck them. At least in first it was business as usual, I just had to introduce myself and that was that.

I walked with a heavy sigh to my third hour which I was actually sort of looking forward to. It was a stupid language arts class which I could usually fall asleep in and still pass with flying colors. But what I really couldn't wait for was lunch, my stomach was growling at me nonstop and it was really starting to kill me.

"Oh, we have another class together?" I heard a somewhat familiar voice ask. I looked up from the floor to see John and opened my mouth to greet him but my stomach spoke for me. I huffed and pressed my mouth into a thin line as the dark haired teen laughed. "Hungry?" he asked as he reached into his backpack. I sighed and stepped closer to him, filling the empty seat to the right of his. I wasn't in a bad mood anymore so I figured I'd give this guy a chance because it seemed he was doing the same thing.

"Yeah, I haven't eaten since yesterday morning." I explained as he handed me a cereal bar which I thanked him for and he nodded.

"Why not?"

"Long story." I shrugged as I unwrapped the treat and took a bite. "And I'm uh… sorry… that you've had to put up with my shit the last few days… I haven't been in the best of moods because of the move and such." there. I explained it to him, I hope Derp's happy. He smiled brightly at me like his entire day had just been made.

"It's okay, I get that completely." I almost smiled at how cute he was but forced it back.

"But if we're gonna be friends, I wanna make it clear that I already have a best friend." I said strictly and he looked confused but nodded after a second.

"I do too actually." he spoke softly, looking down as his face grew a little red.

"Are you blushing?" I asked, trying not to chuckle.

"N-no!" he shouted but blushed harder.

"You totally are!" I couldn't help but to laugh. "So who's this best friend of yours?"

"W-well… I actually don't know." he seemed saddened by that tragic fact.

"What? You don't know them?" he shook his head. "What about their name?" he shook his head and I began to get awkward so I said the first thing that came to mind which made him throw up his hands in his defense. "That's messed."

"No! It's not like that- he won't tell me his name!" the boy quickly added. "I've asked but he doesn't want me to know…" he trailed off in thought. I blinked a few times and turned forward in my seat as I finished the cereal bar. His best friend didn't want him to even know their name? Just how I didn't want Derp to know mine. I guess there are more people out there that are just as insecure as I am. Was Derp just as hurt that I won't tell him my name as John was about not knowing his friend's name? Was he hurting because of me? Why was I suddenly filled with so much guilt? I shook my head and tried to think more clearly when the bell rang. Maybe I'd actually pay attention to try and get my mind off of this.

... ... ...

I ate calmly though I wanted to shove all the food down my throat and leave the large and packed lunch room. I sat at the end of the table with my back facing a wall, Rose sat at my side, John was directly in front of me, and Jade right next to him. I wasn't really listening to anything anyone was saying, more so just staring off and allowing my mind to wander wherever it pleased. Someone shook my shoulder and I turned to them, asking what they wanted.

"Have you not been paying attention this entire time Dave?" Jade asked though it was Rose who had brought me back to reality.

"No I haven't, what's up?" I asked, giving her my full attention as she rolled her big, bright green eyes.

"We're having a get-together at John's tomorrow so that Rose and I can unwind and relax before our concert on Wednesday."

"You guys have a concert?" I questioned, looking to Rose for confirmation and she nodded. "I didn't even know you guys played anything." I shrugged it off and took another bite of my sandwich.

"Well you would have known if you were listening. I play the bass and Rose plays the violin." I nodded though I really didn't care.

"What time is the concert? I'll be sure to come."

"Six o clock. And Wednesday is a half day as well." Rose informed me and I gave her a thumbs up since my mouth was full. I kinda stopped paying attention to the girls as I focused on a certain dork who had been strangely quiet and I wondered if he was still upset about me bringing up his friend.

"So are you going to be there tomorrow?" Jade asked, the excitement returning to her voice.

"Where?"

"Arrg! You're insufferable!" she exclaimed, laying her head on the table. I raised an eyebrow and peered at John out of the corner of my eye when he giggled.

"To my house for a party. We have these little get-togethers the night before all of their concerts, it kind of turned into a tradition." John stated, looking at me through my shades and for a moment I thought he could see through me. I quickly turned my head away and felt for my glasses, just making sure they were there which, of course, they were. I was just being paranoid.

"Maybe I'll show, maybe I won't." I shrugged, keeping my head turned the other direction.

"But Daaaaaaaaaave!" I looked at Jade questioningly as she continued to say my name in a very drawn out and annoying manner. I sighed as it continued… it went on… and on… and on. I rolled my eyes and finished eating my lunch before getting up and leaving, Jade's voice still being heard. I heard Rose calling after me saying that she'd see me in class. We had compared schedules earlier and P.E. was the only class we shared. I dumped my tray and headed for the door. I had enough with this randomness, I just wanted for everything to be quiet for a while.

"Sorry about Jade, she's used to getting whatever she wants." John said as he ran up to me. I shrugged, not looking at him as I walked to the gym for my last hour.

"It's not a big deal; I just wanna be somewhere quiet right now."

"Long day?" his voice lowered like he knew the feeling.

"You feeling alright, Egbert?" I asked and he looked up at me and smiled.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" he beamed. Okay, now he was just trying.

"I don't know, you're just being pretty quiet and what I've seen of you so far, you're usually very happy and talkative. And I can't help but to feel like it's my fault for bringing up your friend." why did I actually feel guilty? It's not like this kid really mattered to me. He stared at me for a moment and again I felt self-conscious and felt for my glasses. They were still there. John laughed and I looked at him oddly.

"No, it has nothing to do with that." he smiled sincerely at me now. "I'm just trying to sort some things out and it's actually pretty frustrating." he looked down uncomfortably but returned his gaze to me. "Don't worry about me; you seem to have enough on your plate as it is." I sighed and shrugged it off. He was right. I had enough to deal with right now; I didn't need any more emotional baggage. "So where are you heading?"

"The gym."

"Um…" I raised an eyebrow at his hesitance. "The gym is that way." he chuckled, pointing behind us. I huffed in irritation at the world as I turned around, listening to John's laughter.

**~*John Egbert*~**

I sighed as I got onto the bus to go home with Jade talking my ear off about how we needed to meet up sometime to rehearse for the play.

"It's gonna be so cool!" she shouted, gaining a few odd glances. I chuckled and rubbed the back of my head.

"Yeah but don't you think you should focusing on your song for the concert instead of thinking so much about the play right now?" she stopped to think about it.

"Oh my god John, you're right!" I sighed in relief, glad I didn't have to listen to it anymore but that wasn't the end of it. She just went on about how excited she was about playing in front of an audience again and about how rude Dave was to walk away from her. She threw suggestions out for which movies we should watch tomorrow night and she wondered what types of movies Dave liked. She figured he'd be into action movies and what I had should be okay. I let out a relieved breath when she got off at her stop, waving as she exited. I waved back before putting my headphones in and blasting my music.

What was I supposed to do… about God? I knew I didn't just like him as a friend but I knew I wasn't homosexual. I couldn't be. Maybe it was a brotherly love? I've never had a brother so I had no idea what it felt like to have one so maybe… no, I felt a sisterly love for Jade and it was nothing like this. But maybe sisterly love and brotherly love were different somehow? Hell, I don't know.

I focused on my music, actually listening to the words and the beat- anything other than my own thoughts. I just wanted to distract my mind and not think about this anymore. I would sort it out later… maybe.

As I stepped off the bus and walked around the block to my house, I tapped my fingers against my leg to the music as if I was playing the song on a piano and I remembered that I hadn't played in a while. My fingers must be getting anxious. I rolled my eyes and laughed at myself for implying that my fingers had minds of their own. I unlocked the front door and stepped into my house, expecting to be greeted by the terribly sweet scent of a newly baked cake but there was nothing. No sweet smells of any baked goods, no beeping or clanking coming from the kitchen. Nothing but silence… silence and suspicion.

Quietly, I closed and locked the door and crept into the kitchen, peeking in before actually fully going into the usually occupied but now strangely empty room. There were no pans out nor was there any batter- or any sort of cooking materials out of place.

"Strange…" I mumbled to myself before turning to the fridge where I expected there was a note from my dad stuck to it. And what do you know? I pulled the small sticky note off of the surface of the cold metal to read it.

SON,  
I WILL BE HOME LATE. I HOPE YOU DON'T MIND BUT I HAVE TO DO OVERTIME TONIGHT IN ORDER TO GET TOMORROW OFF TO BE THERE FOR YOUR MOVIE DAY. I WILL PREPARE A CAKE FOR THE EVENT BEFORE YOUR FRIENDS ARRIVE.  
LOVE,  
DAD

I rolled my eyes and sighed as I wrote him a quick response and stuck it in same place his was.

its fine dad. and thats okay, we dont need any cake.

I made my way up to my room and set my backpack by my door as I swung it shut behind me before flopping down on my bed. After a few long minutes, I rolled onto my back so my eyes could scan the familiar room, quickly finding and settling on the keyboard in the far corner as it collected dust. I sighed as I forced myself up to go over to it and sit down on the bench in front of it. I turned it on and messed a little with the settings before positioning my fingers over the keys to play but returned them to my lap when I realized I didn't have the slightest clue as to what I was going to play. I felt like playing something dark and sad with a nice tempo but no songs came to mind.

After a long while of thinking, I finally just said fuck it and let my fingers go at it- of course using those amazing minds of theirs. I giggled at how stupid that was.

I'm not sure how long I was caught up in my zone but I was finally pulled out of it when the nonstop popping sound coming from my computer finally reached my ears. I left my keyboard to answer whoever was pestering me so fiercely.

- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering ectoBiologist [EB] -

TG: hey derp  
TG: yo answer me  
TG: i have something to tell you  
TG: not really but answer me anyway  
TG: oi derp answer me already  
TG: what do you hate me now  
TG: fine then ill just go weep a corner like a god damn princess waiting for her prince charming but he never shows cuz hes got a family to feed back in europe where his parents fell ill and dropped like the sick beats im cooking up  
TG: its like holy shit  
TG: whered this chick come from  
TG: pretty sure i didnt order a hot chick in a tower  
TG: what i gotta fight a dragon  
TG: bring it on  
EB: what are you talking about?  
TG: oh there you are  
TG: hi  
TG: good morning  
TG: how are you  
EB: it's almost four in the afternoon.  
TG: so i said let it be morning and it was  
TG: cause im god

I sighed.

EB: i'm okay.  
TG: you seem irritated  
EB: i was playing the piano when you started pestering me.  
TG: oh  
TG: sorry man  
EB: its fine.  
EB: on the other hand, you seem to be in a good mood  
TG: surprising yes  
EB: what happened?  
TG: ive actually has a pretty long and tiring day and ive been really hungry right  
EB: okay.  
TG: and ive just really wanted to talk to you all day and now i get to  
TG: and as a bonus when i got home i was treated to aj and ramen  
TG: so yeah im in a bit of a good mood now

My face heated up when he said he just wanted to talk to me. It made me feel important and wanted.

EB: cool!  
EB: ramen sounds good now…  
TG: i know dude im going to make some more right now  
TG: i would offer you some but i have no way of getting it to you  
EB: that's fine i'll go see if we have any.

I walked away from my computer to head downstairs to the kitchen, searching the pantry for any ramen but found none and added a 'p.s.' to my note to dad telling him that we needed some. I made my way back up to my room, turning off my keyboard as I headed back to my computer.

EB: we don't have any.  
TG: that sucks  
TG: my place is always loaded with this shit its amazing  
EB: lucky, we only get it every now and then.  
TG: that majorly blows man  
EB: i know. :'B  
TG: when we meet ill be sure to make you some  
EB: and when will that be?

After a few minutes with no answer, I started to feel really guilty, thinking that that was the wrong thing to say. I was relieved when he finally messaged back.

TG: sorry dude i was slurping these delicious noodles

I started laughing as relief flooded my thoughts. I thought I had hurt him.

TG: we will eventually meet im just not sure exactly when  
TG: but it will happen  
EB: sounds good to me. :B  
EB: i can't wait to meet you!

**~*Dave Strider*~**

I was hurt… Derp asked when we would get to meet and all I could think of was how I wouldn't even tell him my name and how badly that must be hurting him. I was a terrible person and more than that, I was a terrible friend. Realizing that it had been awhile since I had spaced out, I replied with a quick lie about my absence, fearing that he may be worried.

TG: sorry dude i was slurping these delicious noodles

I looked at my bowl of ramen and turned away from it, suddenly feeling a little sick and having no appetite.

TG: we will eventually meet im just not sure exactly when  
TG: but it will happen  
EB: sounds good to me. :B  
EB: i can't wait to meet you!

I hung my head in shame, thinking again about how hard it must be for him to be my friend. It just wasn't fair to him. My fingers slowly typed out a message though didn't send it, giving me time to read over it.

my name is dave strider and i love you derp

I quickly deleted it and shut my computer down before throwing myself onto my bed. I couldn't tell him, I just couldn't bring myself to. One: he's not a homo like I apparently am and two: it was a disgrace to the Strider name. A gay Strider? As if. I mean, seriously, yeah fucking right. I would be shaming Bro and there's no way in hell I'm gonna do that to him. He's too cool. Just thinking about disappointing him made me feel even sicker.

I was about to get up and starting mixing some beats when Bro peeked his head in.

"Hey."

"Hey." I returned his greeting as I sat up, waving him over. Now having the okay to enter, he did so and moved to sit next to me on my bed.

"You know your energy was really positive a second ago…" he trailed off so I finished for him.

"And now it's really negative so you came to see if I was okay." he nodded. "Well I'm fine, I'm just starting to feel a little sick." he felt my forehead.

"You feel fine to me." he stated, his hand returning to his lap.

"Either way, I think I'm gonna take a nap." I spoke, shooing him with a wave of my hand. He got up and headed for the door after ruffling my hair.

"Okay, let me know if you need anything."

"Some AJ would be great." I called before he could shut the door so it remained cracked as Bro left. I sighed and crawled under my covers, lying flat on my back with my arms folded behind my head since I knew Bro was coming back which he did after a minute, carrying a juice box. He handed the delicious drink to me and I took it gratefully. I thanked him for it and he nodded before once again, heading for the exit. He stopped at the door and turned back to look at me with a solemn look on his face. Something that made me cringe a little, I hated when he looked so down.

"You know you can talk to me about anything, right?" he asked, his voice lower than usual. He sounded hurt and I remembered what happened in the truck the other night. It was all because we wouldn't talk to each other and it was obvious that he was trying to make sure that it didn't happen again. But I couldn't talk to him about this… I just couldn't.

"Yeah, of course." I nodded, not even attempting a smile. He nodded and looked down. Shit, he knew I was lying.

"Okay. Get some sleep Lil Man, you need your rest." his voice was still low which made me feel guilty but I let him leave. I placed my shades on my nightstand along with my apple juice, not even wanting that now.

Now that Bro was gone and I was fairly sure he wasn't returning, I curled up on my side and drew my blankets near. I buried my face into the pillow and felt like screaming and crying into it but I couldn't. I couldn't ever be that weak. Why did everything have to be so damn hard? Why did _life_ have to be so hard?

As I finally drifted off, the only thing I could think of was holding Derp in my arms as I slept so that I wouldn't be alone. I just didn't want to be alone anymore.


	4. Chapter 4

**~*Dave Strider*~**

I woke up sometime around three in the morning and nearly burst into tears. I was alone. There was no body wrapped around mine, no body lying next to me on my bed, no mysterious light coming from somewhere that seemed so far off that represented a certain someone that had gotten up early and was now reading or something as he waited for me to awaken as well, no one in my room at all, no one here to love me. I was alone.

I lay still for at least half an hour to calm myself and then rolled around in bed for another hour or so after that but when I knew there was no chance I was getting back to sleep, and I needed to get up in about an hour anyway, I just decided to get up.

Maybe I'd go downstairs and make some cereal or something, I don't know. Actually that sounded pretty good now. I put my shades on as I turned on my computer and while I waited for it to start up; I went downstairs to fix me a bowl of some delicious Trix. Fuck that rabbit and those kids, these were my Trix and I wasn't going to share with anybody.

I made my way back up to my room, not bothering to stop and listen to see if Bro was up or not, I didn't really care right now and I was still more than half asleep yet wide awake. Don't you just hate nights like these? I sat at my computer desk and started browsing through my own stupid blogs before I noticed that Derp was on so I shot him a message.

- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering ectoBiologist [EB] -

TG: hey what are you doing up so late  
TG: er i guess it would be early huh  
EB: i could ask you the same thing.  
TG: couldnt sleep  
EB: me neither.  
EB: i've been watching movies hoping they could lull me to sleep or something but i find myself just turning away from them and staring at the wall or something.  
TG: just dont feel interested in anything  
EB: exactly!  
EB: it's like there's that one thing on your mind that makes you focus on it by making everything seem so dull and boring.  
TG: sounds like we got the same problem  
EB: what's yours?

I sighed, debating whether or not to tell him.

EB: you tell me yours and i'll tell you mine.  
TG: fair enough  
EB: on 3?  
TG: sure  
EB: 1  
TG: 2  
EB: 3  
TG: that one dorky kid  
EB: the new kid

I stared for a minute with a raised eyebrow, a pang of jealousy and anger running through my body as chills. What was he still thinking of that kid for? Did I need to go to wherever Derp was and paint it on his forehead that he was mine before people would back off? I mean seriously, what the hell EB?

TG: he still causing you trouble?  
TG: ill find him and ill kick his ass  
TG: i will  
TG: i dont care that hes your friends boyfriend  
EB: calm your jets god.  
EB: he's not causing trouble i'm just trying to figure him out.

I sighed deeply, somewhat in relief, as I ran my hands down my face. Man was I tired.

TG: well you know where to find me if he starts  
EB: well i… i almost feel like i like him like you.

My eyes widened as I read that. Was he saying that he liked this fucker? I mean he doesn't even know him and- wait… 'like you'? What was that supposed to mean… did he… like me?

TG: i thought you werent a homo  
EB: i'm not!  
EB: i just don't know what this is  
EB: i mean i feel an odd warmth when i'm around him and i feel oddly safe and comfortable around him like i've known him for a really long time  
TG: sounds to me like you got yourself a crush  
TG: that mean you got one on me too?  
EB: what?!  
EB: no!  
EB: i don't know what you're talking about! i don't have a crush on anyone!  
EB: i'm not a homosexual!

I hit my head on my desk, trying to rid myself of the anger that was beginning to pulse through me.

"You okay?" Bro's voice asked and I turned my head on the table to see that he was standing in my doorway.

"Learn to knock, asshole." I grumbled, turning my face again so it was flat on the desk.

"Okay, geez, sorry."

"Am I wrong for keeping so much from Derp?" I asked, sighing in frustration at my own indecisiveness.

"What do you mean?" Bro asked, stepping in a little.

"We've been best friends for like six years now and I haven't even told him my name." we were quiet for some time before Bro shrugged.

"I can't tell you how you should be doing things and I can't tell you how to live your life; you'd just go against me anyway. You've always been a rebel." he smirked and I looked back at him, un-amused. "'Do what you think is right.' Or however that stupid ass quote goes." he shrugged again and I rolled my eyes as I sat up straight, folding my arms over my chest loosely.

"You know you don't have to go so easy on me, right?" I asked, looking at him seriously. He'd been nothing but nice and concerned lately and honestly, it was a little weird. I missed the old Bro who would randomly throw swords at me and bury me in Smuppet ass and threaten my apple juice and challenge me to strifes on the roof and kick my ass and be a huge asshole and afterward patch me up and lecture me on everything I was doing wrong and teach me and… treat me to pizza and laugh with me over stupid shit we enjoy and blame irony on those ridiculous interests. I missed that.

"I do now." he spoke in his normal tone, a hard and emotionless one that almost made me smile. "I'm going to start working on the roof while you're gone today so when you get home, that's what we'll be doing and tomorrow, we strife." I nodded, more than fine with that.

"Oh shit, wait, I'm supposed to go over to John's today for some type of party or something for Rose and Jade's concert tomorrow which I said I would attend." he looked confused for a moment before starting to chuckle.

"Three friends in one day? Way to go Dave."

I shook my head. "Rose and her two friends, not mine."

"Riiight… anyway, let me know when you're ready for school and I'll take you." he left it at that, shutting my door behind him. I hit my head on my desk again, sucking in a heavy breath as I wished this day would just be over before it has a chance to start.

... ... ...

I yawned as I walked into the school building, feeling more sluggish than usual this morning maybe due to all the lack of sleep I've been getting so much of lately. I walked into the library, the hangout for this group I was shoved into and I guess I had nothing better to do anyway so whatever. My eyes quickly found John sitting at one of the tables, reading a book. He looked a little distressed and I wasn't sure if he felt like crap today too or if he was just one of those people that made odd expressions while they were reading. I guessed the latter. He seemed like the type to get so involved in what he was reading that he'd bust a tear or two.

I silently sat at across from him and watched him and sure enough, after a few minutes of waiting, tears appeared in the rims of his eyes. I chuckled, shaking my head and he looked up at me, a few tears slipping from his blue eyes to roll down his cheeks. He gasped and turned the opposite direction from me to quickly wipe them away.

"Ah! S-sorry! I was reading and my favorite character just died." he chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

"It's cool, I get it."

"So uh… what kind of movies do you like?" I looked at him quizzically and he returned the expression when I didn't speak to either answer him or ask him to clarify what he meant. "For… the party tonight… at my house." he explained awkwardly and I nodded.

"Oh, right." holy hell, I've been really forgetful lately. Must be all the stress and the fact that I've been hella tired. "Horror movies, good action movies, movies I can laugh at ironically." he looked really confused now after I spoke that last part. Was he against irony or something? "What?"

"N-nothing…" he looked down thoughtfully. "That just reminded me of someone I know, it's nothing." he beamed again and I raised an eyebrow but shrugged it off. I got the feeling he didn't want to talk about it and quite frankly, I didn't want to hear it.

"Just no Nic Cage shit and we'll be good." I hadn't completely noticed it but his eyes got a little wider. "Otherwise I'll have to jump out a window." he was giving me that look again though it wasn't really directed at me. "What?" I demanded again out of irritation.

"Nothing, nothing, just still seems familiar." he shook his head, dismissing the thoughts.

"Riiight, well yeah, there's my answer."

"Okay, I'll be sure to-"

"Hey John!" Jade shouted as she ran into the room and sat next to her friend.

"Hey, what are you doing here? I thought you and Rose were practicing?"

"We were and we finished early so I came to talk to you and Rose said she was going to class early to set up the kitchen so we wouldn't have to rush to get ready once the bell rang." she explained. "Anyway, we need to talk about tonight."

"Okay, what about it?" John asked, shooting me a concerned glance before looking back at the girl.

"Nothing bad, I just wanted to know what treats I should bring."

John sighed in relief. "Oh, well anything's fine with me. Same rule though, no baked goods." he shivered. "I'll be fine with cookies today but if I see a cake, I'm gone!" that comment seemed so familiar. Derp had something against baked goods, or more specifically, Betty Cocker or 'The Batter Witch' as he would sometimes call her. "I told him not to but dad will probably make one anyway." he sighed, a little frustrated. Why could I only think of Derp?

"Oh John, you're such a dork. Most kids would die to eat cake all the time." Jade rolled her eyes, chuckling.

"You know for someone that claims me as her brother, you're pretty mean to me." he pouted and I looked at the now laughing girl with the long black hair and the big round glasses.

_"EB: she's practically my sister!"_

My eyes widened a little as the pieces connected but I quickly tore them apart. I refused acknowledge that dumbass thought. John wasn't my Derp! So what they both had friends named Jade, lots of people share that same name and so what that they were both like siblings, what a coincidence, and so what John and Derp both had dads that made a lot of cake and stuff and they hated it. It didn't mean anything!

"What kind of snacks do you like, Dave?"

"Huh?" I questioned as I was brought out of my daze.

"What kind of snacks do you like?" John repeated.

"You space out a lot, don't you?" Jade asked, seeming rather worried.

"Not usually." I answered with a shrug before leaning back in my seat and folding my arms tightly over my chest as I tried to push these new thoughts from my mind. "Anyway some chips would be fine with me, whatever else is fine too. Oh and chocolate would be great." Jade laughed at me.

"What are you? A teenage girl going through a breakup?"

"Sort of." they both looked at me oddly. "I'm making advances on a certain someone and they're completely oblivious to it so I may be feeling a little rejected." still with the odd glances.

"Really…" John trailed off but continued, smiling at me nicely though it seemed a little sad. "So who's the lucky lady?" I stared at him for a minute before starting to chuckle which turned into a laugh. "What?" I didn't answer.

The bell rang so we all got up to go to our classes, John still questioning my laughter.

... ... ...

I was a little startled by the bell when it rang to signal the end of second period. Today, being a 'Black Day' rather than an 'White Day' like yesterday, began with wood craft which apparently the class was of misfits and were still learning the basics half way into the term because no one would fucking shut the hell up. It was stupid and pathetic because I already knew all of this and how to use the machines, thanks to Bro, and I wanted to find some downtime in that class to make something for my Derp. I knew he would never get them but I actually made him a lot of gifts that he would never receive or even knew existed. I'd have to buy some paint for it though I don't really have the money right now.

My second hour, which just ended, is Advanced Art. A class I'm actually pretty excited for. I was just working on a picture of me and Bro strifing on our old roof when the bell had rung. I would finish it before the school day was up and give it to Bro when I got home. Maybe he would put it up on the fridge like he did when I was little. I laughed at the thought.

Oh, I know, maybe I could use some of the paint in this class for whatever I decided to make Derp.

"Dave?" someone asked and I turned, seeing the teacher motioning me closer to her desk as she tucked a thick folder away in a drawer labeled '2nd hour' and pulled another out tilted '3rd hour.' Man this chick was busy. "I just wanted to complement that drawing you were working on during my instruction." I felt a little confused whether she was really complementing me or lecturing me for not paying attention. I was conflicted on how to answer but kept my cool.

"Thanks." I shrugged and she laughed a little.

"I'm glad you're enthused about art but at least try to pretend like you're paying attention in my class from now on, okay?"

"Can do." I replied, once again turning to the door to leave. My next class was Computer Tech, then I had lunch, and after that Ancient World History. Which was a mistake; I would prefer it if I was in Modern World History at least. I mean, come _on_. History itself is boring enough, making it _ancient_ history is just going to put me to sleep that much faster. I was planning on going into the office and demanding to switch but I haven't gotten around to it just yet, besides I wanted to see if it was a good class to sleep in and still pass because I could use a few of those.

... ... ...

So Computer Tech ain't all it's cracked up to be. I thought it would be more fun, but I finished my assignment about half an hour earlier than everyone else cause I'm just that fucking awesome so I got some time to work on some sick beats which I would need to try out as soon as I got home. I should've been working on my picture but I guess I got a little distracted.

"Hello." I turned to the becoming familiar voice at my side to see Rose.

"Sup?" I questioned, pulling my headphones out of my backpack and putting them around my neck as I plugged them into my phone and began scrolling through my music.

"Oh nothing, I'm just a bit curious about this rumor I hear floating around." I looked at her from the corner of my eye, a suspicious feeling rising in me.

"And that would be?" I decided on a Hollywood Undead song and turned it up a bit so I could hear it clearly from each muff at either side of my head.

"That you were in a gang and killed someone as some sort of 'mission' but you were almost caught and are currently on the run from the cops and your gang that you decided to leave and now they're pissed. Having moved so far from home, I think it's a clever plan Mr. Strider." she used a joking tone and started laughing lightly by the time she had finished telling her tale. I rolled my eyes.

"A gang? Nah, I'm too cool for that shit." I let out a long sigh, just willing the day to be over and… shit, no; I still had to go over to John's for that movie night thing. Damn it. "And while I haven't killed anyone yet, I have come close to it and I've been close to death a few times."

"Really?" she asked, her voice now filled with concern.

"Yeah." I stopped walking as I put my phone in my pocket, making sure the cord was still out and unzipped my jacket before pulling my shirt up to reveal numerous scars.

"Oh my god, what happened?"

"Most of them are from my brother. We both collect a few whenever we strife, it's nothing unusual. But, let's see…" I looked over the scars laid out across my stomach, searching for one that wasn't from a strife. "Ah, this one," I pointed to a smaller one placed a little higher and to the right of my bellybutton. "I got that one in fight with a friend I had a long time ago that I swear was actually trying to kill me. Uh…" I pointed to another small one located just below my left ribcage. "This one I got from that same friend when I slept over at his place and he decided to 'drop' one of his knives on me while I was sleeping." I searched for some more but was interrupted when a teacher yelled at me for having my shirt up. I set it back into place with a roll of my eyes and began walking again, Rose following beside me. I noticed that I had many more onlookers than just a teacher too.

"Sounds like you've had it rough. I haven't even broken a bone let alone been stabbed." the girl said incredibly.

"I've had enough to go around." she gave me an 'are you serious' look and I nodded. "Bro actually installed some mechanics into my left arm because it kept breaking and it got so hard to move."

"You have a robotic arm?"

"Not exactly, it's just enhanced. My bro's a genius with mechanics- he actually built a working robot when he was younger. Called it Saw Tooth. I never had a chance to meet him before he got destroyed but I'm told he was a really cool dude." Rose's look didn't drop. "What?"

"Uh, nothing I guess. This all just seems so odd."

I chuckled. "You have no idea. I'm the one that's had to live it." we got our lunch and she lead me outside where we sat on a bench close to the building. "Where's the other two?"

"They have first lunch today." Rose answered and I nodded in understanding. "So…" I looked up at her from my pasta. "Do you and your brother fight a lot?"

"What? Why would you- oh! No, no! We strife a lot. You know, like sparing. And we both take it really seriously." I corrected her in a hurry. I didn't want her thinking that Bro abused me and might kill me at any point or anything. That was fucking nuts. "If you haven't noticed, we carry swords with us wherever we go- well I'm not allowed to bring mine to school but Bro could. It's kind of like carrying a gun, you-"

"Dave."

"Yeah?"

"You're rambling." she giggled and I slumped in my seat, moving my tray aside to fold my arms on the table and bury my head in them.

"I know, sorry, I just don't want you to think Bro is this evil dude you need to go calling child services on or anything." I looked up at her. "It's happened before and it was a bitch to get out of." I sighed and ran a hand through my hair as I sat straight again. "Point is: we do it for fun but we could get in a whole fuck ton of trouble for it and I don't want that happening."

"It's okay, I get it. I won't tell anyone." she smiled and I sighed in relief. "You two share a very special bond; I'm jealous." her voice took to a sadder tone there at the end which got me curious.

"What, you and your siblings don't?"

"I don't have any."

"Oh… sorry."

"It's alright. But my mom and I are very different and I can't relate to her at all, I actually can't seem to get away from her enough." she seemed angry now. "She's always drinking and…" she glared at the ground. "Would you mind changing the subject?" I caught onto the hint and though I tried not to stop and think about what else to talk about, it took me a minute.

"So are you ready for the concert tomorrow?"

"I am." things were silent and I felt like shit that I couldn't help out more. A light bulb flashed on in my head and I reached for my backpack to pull my sketchpad out of it and flipped a few pages before coming to my most recent, unfinished, drawing and showed it to her. Her eyes slowly turned to it and widened. All the anger seemed to leave her as she was now left in amazement. "You did this?"

"Well it's not finished but yeah." I suddenly felt a little lighter in a weird way I didn't know how to explain. Was this the butterflies people talked about being in their stomachs when they got stage fright? Was the drawing not good enough?

"This is amazing, Dave. You are very talented." I felt a sense of relief and happiness washing away that odd feeling.

"I'm glad you like it. I hope Bro likes it as much as you do, maybe then he'll put it up on the fridge." she laughed with me. That's better. The sweet sincerity of a laugh was much better than a hard glare, it didn't really suit her.

"You know I write and I'd like to believe that I'm pretty good so if you find enough down time, maybe we could make a story together or something." she suggested and I nodded.

"Sure. Write that shit up and I'll draw it for ya. It'll be the best work I've ever done." I promised and she laughed.

"Thank you Dave." I looked at her and offered a small smile, hoping like hell no one else would see it but I was willing to take the chance because I knew she needed it. I knew she wasn't just thanking me for agreeing to help her, she was thanking me for cheering her up.

"You're welcome Rose."

We continued our meals in a comfortable silence, only breaking it when there was something to be said which wasn't very often. After eating, I worked on my picture until the bell rang. I didn't pack it up; instead, I carried it with me to my fourth hour where I would continue it and hopefully complete it.

Walking into the classroom, I made a dreadfully exciting discovery. I had another class with John. I hadn't seen him since this morning and naturally I sat next to him though only after he saw and summoned me over.

"Hey Dave, how have you liked your classes so far?" he asked, his voice sounding a little off. It wasn't just his voice; something about him in general was off.

"Today's classes are pretty cool though I can't say the same about this one." I snickered as I took my seat, laying my sketchbook on the desk.

"What? What's wrong with history?" the other objected.

"It's lame and boring. I don't care about what's already happened, I wanna know what's happening now." I shrugged, opening back up to my page and giving it ninety five percent of my attention, the other five staying with John to half ass at listening to his sure to come rant on the subject… though it never came which, for some unknown reason, worried me. My attention shifted back to him. He was just watching my hands like he was waiting for me to continue the incomplete drawing which he had seemed to already have looked over. Slowly I turned back to the paper and started working, the warming feeling of John's eyes on me never leaving and oddly… I found it comforting.

The bell came shortly after I had finished adding the finishing touches in mine and Bro's hair and though I heard him shift, I could still feel John's blue eyes on me as I didn't stop working. This was going to be that type of class I could do whatever in, I just knew it already. Drawing, sleeping, writing music, getting to know this derp next to me- no! No I can't call him that! I can't- it's too confusing! He's not my Derp!

"Dave?" I looked back at John with a glare in my eyes which he seemed to sense and shrunk down a little. "Are you okay? You suddenly tensed up…" I nodded quickly as I turned back to my drawing. I suddenly wanted nothing to do with him again. And even if he _was_ my Derp… I don't even know. What would I do if he was? What will I do when the day comes that I finally get to/have to meet Derp? He'll find out who I am and what then? I'm no Strider and he'll know that. I've been nothing like a Strider to him; I can't face him knowing that he may think less of me for shaming my family name. I couldn't handle it if he hated me! I just don't think I could deal with that!

"And we have a new student with us now. He's new in town so I'd like it if you were all extra nice to him and help him out when he needs it." I heard the teacher say and looked up to see her motioning me to stand. I sighed and obeyed.

"I don't need any help; I've been getting enough of that lately but some peace and quiet would be nice." I called to no one, folding my arms over my chest. "Name's Dave Strider and I really don't care about your names so don't bother introducing yourself or approaching me later because seriously, no fucks given." I sat down with that but not before the teacher tried to scold me about swearing which I ignored as I continued my work on the developing masterpiece in front of me.

"That wasn't very nice, Dave." John whispered over to me when the teacher started rambling on into the lecture.

"Like I care." I spat.

"Are you okay? You're acting meaner than usual all of a sudden."

"I'm fine." I growled at him. This entire moment felt just like that run in we had in the bathroom and I was a total dick to him. It was unfair and I was doing it again. His hurt look only farther helped me come back to myself. "My train of thought took me somewhere bad and I got pissed, okay?" it wasn't an apology but I felt it would suffice since I've apologized to him enough, I didn't want him getting used to it or anything. He still looked distressed but he nodded and dropped the subject.

I had gotten a lot done on my picture but it still wasn't finished when I decided to take a break.

"Hey John?" I called to him, hoping he could hear me over the rest of the noisy class. He looked up at me from his assignment, the same one that was sitting on my desk never to be touched, so I continued. "When do the girls usually leave these get together things you guys have before their concerts?" he beamed at the subject.

"Oh well it usually depends on what's going on or when they were told to be home but they usually head home by ten at the latest to get some sleep. Why do you ask?" he answered, his voice having slowly gotten louder, successfully drawing in some odd glances.

"Wanted to know if you'd be up to walking around town with me after they left and show me around a bit." his smile grew wide and overjoyed, I could practically grab hold of the good feelings coming off of him.

"Of course! I would love too!" he practically shouted. Now people were really looking at us strangely, not that I cared. I just kept working on my picture, being set on finishing it before school was out though I guess it didn't really matter just as long as it was done before I left John's house since I was going straight there after school.

"Cool." having noticed the stares, John shut up and shrank into his desk to finish his assignment.

After a while, I felt the eager eyes of a certain dark haired boy dart from me to something else and when I looked over at him, found that that thing was his phone. He was looked back and forth from his phone to my arm.

"What?" I asked, irritably.

"Uh- nothing…" he stuttered, staring only at his phone now though he still peeked at my arm from the corner of his eye. I sighed and unzipped my jacket to tug it off my shoulders and roll up my long sleeve as far as I could and held my arm out for him. Somehow I just knew what he was thinking and who told him. "So it's true?" he questioned, his voice filled with excitement as he quickly turned in his seat and began feeling around my arm, trying to locate all the metal within it.

"If you were talking to Rose about my mechanically enhanced arm, then yes, it's true." I chuckled.

"Oh wow! That's so cool!" he exclaimed, continuing his search though he wasn't feeling the right places.

"You're in the wrong area." I moved my arm to show him the back side of my forearm. "There's only a little bit of metal under my elbow and all the robotics are above it though they're mostly in my shoulder." I explained, pressing down on the said metal in my forearm and he mimicked my actions.

"Oh my god! That's so awesome!" he shouted and I laughed.

"Yeah well it was a bitch to get it all in there and it hurt like hell." I kind of started to trail off as I noticed the teacher heading out of the classroom. Figuring it'd be the perfect chance to show him, I took my arm back long enough to pull my shirt off. I noticed John was blushing but I didn't pay much attention to it as I rotated in my seat so that my back was facing him. "As I said, most of it is in my shoulder going down toward my elbow." his hands slowly touched my skin and I shivered at how cold they were which he apologized for and I just shrugged.

"Oh my god… this so cool." his amazed voice made me chuckle. "How does it move?"

"It's all hooked up to my nerves so it's still mostly my muscles doing the work. The robotics are just there to help me out since it was getting so hard for me to move my arm at all. If it weren't for my brother, I most likely wouldn't even have this arm anymore because it was dying."

"How is it management wise?" well wasn't he just full of questions?

"It's okay, I guess. Sometimes it freezes up when it gets too cold, which adds to the long list of reasons I hate the cold. But when that happens, I pretty much can't move it and have to keep it warm. And while it rarely happened since I lived in Texas, it was a bitch when it did. Bro said he'd start working on fixing that now that we're here and it's a fuck ton colder."

"Yeah, that's understandable." he was silent for a moment. "Have you ever broken it?"

"Yeah actually, I have, and Bro had to redo the entire thing. I was in major pain for weeks and my room always smelt of blood after that even if just a little, I couldn't ever seem to get rid of it."

"Wait, you didn't go to a hospital?"

"Fuck no; you think they would know what to do with a boy with a somewhat robotic arm? I think not. Besides, Bro's the best fucking doctor slash mechanic around. I wouldn't ever see anyone else for even simple stitches."

"Hm… you two seem close." his voice was a little lower and I recall Rose doing the same thing before she nearly bit my head off.

"That's not bringing up problems, right? Rose kinda snapped at me when we got onto the topic of family bonds." I hesitated, looking back at him slightly.

"Oh no- me and my dad get along just fine." he rushed to ease my nerves which worked; I let out a relieved breath.

"Okay good. I nearly lost my head once today; I'd rather not try for a second time."

He laughed. "Yeah Rose can be pretty scary sometimes."

"So I've gathered." silence. And in that silence, I started trailing off on the thought of how good it felt to have someone else's hands on me. His hands were soft and had warmed up since when he had started and it felt really nice. Kind of like I was getting a massage and I didn't want it to end.

"Is it heavy?"

"Huh?" I questioned, pulling myself back from my daze. "Oh. You'd think so but not really. Sure it's a little heavier than my right arm but I got used to it a long time ago so I don't even notice it anymore."

"When exactly did this happen and what _did_ happen?"

"Uh well…" I stopped and thought about a good way to explain it. "I used to get into a lot of fights and me and Bro strife all the time and sometime when I was either twelve or thirteen, my arm just decided it was sick of all the abuse I put it through over the years and it just kinda started to stop working properly, I guess. Bro says that if I keep going about life how I do than by the time I get old, I may be nothing more than a robot wearing skin."

"I see… I'm sorry." his voice suddenly lost its excitement to become sad and forlorn as his hands left my body, allowing his warm touch to be replaced with a colder feeling.

"For?" I asked, turning enough to see him.

"Can I feel?" a girl asked and I glared at her.

"Fuck off." I snapped at her as I started putting my shirt back on. She started objecting, saying things like 'you can't say that to me' and 'it's not fair' and 'you're a terrible person' and other annoying things like that. "John, what's up? It's just a stupid joke Bro likes to tease me with, no need to get upset over it." at being ignored, the girl finally huffed and walked away.

"I know… I'm sorry. I just keep thinking about how much I complain about how I've got it rough and then you have all these scars and a robot arm and I feel like such shit because I've been complaining so much about everything when you've got it so much worse." he shook his head at himself. I sighed and slipped back into my jacket.

"Everyone handles things differently." he looked up at me a little doubtfully. "I don't really think it's the problem that matters so much as how you get over it and if complaining is how you do that, then keep at it." he smiled at me.

"That's some shitty advice but thanks Dave." he chuckled and I joined him.

"Yeah, I know. And you're the second person I've had to give such shit advice to today and also the second person to say thanks to me so I guess must be getting better at this whole people thing cause I'm feeling a little accomplished." I continued to chuckle when he slapped my shoulder which I didn't really even feel.

"Okay it wasn't _that_ bad of advice, you should try giving yourself a little more credit."

"Whatever." I watched as the teacher came back in and took her seat. I looked up at the clock to see that the bell should be ringing within the next few minutes so I started packing up my things including my sketchpad. I would have to find some time to finish the drawing at John's place. "Did Jade ever say she was bringing that chocolate?" I asked, said chocolaty goodness sounding extremely tasty right about now.

"Yeah she was actually asking me if I knew what kind you liked so she could pick some up before she came over. I just told her to get some milk chocolate, hope that's okay. If not, I can text her and tell her whatever else you want."

"No that's perfect. As far as I'm concerned that's the only chocolate there is." John laughed as he started gathering his things as well.

"I feel the same." he looked at the clock then checked his watch. "Huh, it seems my watch is a little slow."

"By how much?"

"About two minutes." I shrugged before slinging my bag over my shoulder. We sat in a brief silence until John grabbed my arm and started playing with it again. I stared at him with a bored expression and he seemed to catch the hint and let me go. "Sorry, I couldn't help it…"

"It's fine." after I spoke the bell rang and everyone started shuffling out. "I'll make you a deal." the other looked at me quizzically. "Later if you give me a massage, you can mess with it all you want." he beamed and agreed to that. To be honest, I was more than willing to let him play with the stupid robotics for nothing because as I've said, I enjoy the skin to skin contact. But it's not like I could just take my shirt off and practically ask for it so I figured this was cover enough and an actual massage would be nice.

When we walked out to the front doors where we were greeted by Rose and Jade, the latter waving and calling out to us.

"Sup?"

"Nothing much, just saying goodbye before heading home." she answered, seeming a little nervous.

"Hershey's Milk Chocolate would great." I smirked when her worried expression turned to one of relief. "And maybe some Reese's Cups." she nodded.

"What kind of chips do you prefer?" Rose asked and I didn't even need to think about it.

"Doritos." we started walking away from the school when I realized something. "So why is everyone getting everything I like?"

"Well this is also a welcoming party for you." John answered and my eyes widened.

"A welcoming party? For me?" I asked incredibly and they all nodded. What was this warm feeling in my chest? I felt a smile pulling at my lips but forced it back. "What kind of drinks do you like? Me and Egbert will run to the store on the way to his place and I'll pick up whatever." they all looked at each other oddly like they didn't know what to do. "What is it?"

"We usually bring our own drinks." Rose answered though Jade explained more into it.

"Whoever's house we're at, in this case that's John's, so he handles dinner while everyone else brings treats and I guess we just always brought our own drinks."

"Well I wanna be in charge of something too." I said as everyone stopped at the corner where I guess we were splitting up.

"In that case, I want some Root Beer." John pitched in with a smile.

"See, John's with me." the girls looked at each other and shrugged.

"I'm not really a fan of soda so I'll stick with water." Rose said so I nodded.

"And I'm fine with whatever." Jade chirped.

"Alright so Root Beer, water, Mountain Dew, and Apple Juice. Sound good?" everyone nodded in agreement so we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.

"So… apple juice, huh?" John asked, keeping his eyes straight as if he was thinking about something else.

"Yeah shit's fucking delicious." I replied, my voice remaining emotionless. We continued on into a long silence. "So… where's the store?"

"Up ahead."

"Okay…" things got more awkward as we continued to walk in this unbearable and tense silence.

We were in and out of the store and off to John's in no time at all though the silence still hung over us. What was with this? Not too long ago he was all laughs and questions and now he seemed like he wasn't even here.

I hadn't noticed I was staring at him until he started to look my way, in which case I quickly looked in the opposite direction.

"Hey Dave?"

"Yeah John?" I asked as I casually turned my head to him as if I hadn't just been staring.

"Do you want to spend the night?" I raised an eyebrow at the sudden question but gave it some thought.

"I don't know. If I do, we'd have to go back to my place so I could grab some clothes and my sword." what was up with my answer? Usually in this case I'd play the 'I don't really know you yet' card so why was I actually thinking about it like that didn't matter?

"Why would you need a sword?"

"Safety reasons. Last time I spent the night at someone's house, I got stabbed." he gave me an incredible look and I chuckled. "Long story. Anyway, point is, I wouldn't be able to sleep because I'm paranoid about that now and I need to get some sleep for tomorrow and such. So maybe another time when I know you better." there I said it. He nodded slowly.

"I guess I understand." I doubted he did as his statement had sounded more like a question.

We walked in silence until we got to John's house but instead of walking right on in, he stopped and turned to tell me to be quiet before unlocking the door and peeking in.

"Okay the coast is clear." he whispered and I raised an eyebrow but followed him in. I looked around, finding nothing out of the ordinary, just a normal house. I stood in front of him while he closed and locked the door.

"So what's up with-"

"Shush!" John interrupted but before he could say anything else, a cake was flung at me but I quickly ducked, allowing it to continue passed me and hit John. I stood straight again and turned around before bursting into laughter, holding my stomach as I hunched over in my fit. His face… oh my god- his face! He didn't seem surprised at all and just… oh my god, it was great!

"Who's this?" someone asked and I turned around to see a man with a large nose dressed in white.

"Dad this is Dave; Dave this is my dad." John introduced us as he wiped some of the cake from his face.

"Oh, so you're Dave?" he asked holding his hand out for me so I shook it. "My son's told me quite a bit about you."

"Dad…" John whined but we both ignored him. He took the bag of drinks from me and walked into another room, I'm guessing the kitchen.

"Nothing too bad, I hope." I chuckled and he laughed, releasing my hand.

"Not that I've heard."

"So what kind of stuff does he say then?" I asked but he didn't have a chance to answer me as John came back minus the bag and plus a rag which he was using to clean the cake off of him.

"Alright, we'll be upstairs if you need us." John said as he started pushing me toward the stairs.

"It was cool meeting you Mr. Egbert." I called as I started up the stairs with John following me.

"You too Dave." I heard him call back. At the top of the stairs, I waited for the other to take the lead and guild me to his room which he did and I followed.

"You're dad's pretty cool." I commented as I slipped out of my shoes and left them by the door before sitting on his bed.

"Yeah but he's also a pain in the ass sometimes." he sighed.

"That pretty much describes every parent- no, no, every _person_ on the planet." I chuckled as he plopped down next to me.

"I guess you're right but whatever." I yawned before moving my glasses up slightly to rub my eyes. "Tired?" he asked and I nodded.

"I haven't been sleeping well since the move." he nodded in understanding before silence took over the room as I looked around. I noticed a keyboard in one of the corners of the room but shrugged off the thoughts of Derp that came to mind. Lots of people had keyboards and didn't even play them. John turned to me after a minute with a dorky smile that gave me butterflies so I turned away. It wasn't right. One: I didn't even know him and two: I was in love with Derp. So no matter how comfortable and safe I felt around John, I couldn't let him make me feel this way.

"So about that massage." I chuckled and rolled my eyes before standing to take off my jacket and my shirt and lay on my stomach on John's bed with my arms crossed under my head. Said dork sat at my side and ran his hands over my back. "Do you want me to use lotion?" he asked and in my head, I saw us on a beach or something and this was a whole big erotic thing. I almost laughed but held it in because I knew John would question it and I would have to explain the reason for my laughter which I didn't want to do.

"Sure." I simply shrugged and he exited the room for a minute or two before returning with a few bottles in his arms which he set on his nightstand as he named them.

"Okay there's coconut, strawberry banana, mango, lavender, orange pineapple, and raspberry." he said and I turned on my side to stare between him and the six bottles of lotion for a minute before he finally asked me what it was that I was doing.

"Dude you got a lot of lotion." his shoulders sagged down and he pouted.

"I know, I've been trying to get rid of them but my dad keeps getting more."

"Strawberry banana." I said, rolling back onto my stomach. I heard him grab something before his weight moved to the bed and his hands, which were coated in the cold lotion, began moving across my back. I shivered and felt goose bumps rising on my skin, something that made John laugh.

"Sorry, I didn't think it'd be so cold."

"It's fine; just rub your hands together or something next time."

"Okay." he giggled and I sighed in contentment. I was comfortable, relaxed, and safe in this moment. I was lying on a soft bed with one of the greatest pillows I'd ever laid my head on, there was someone there with me whose presence put me more at ease and gave me that safe feeling, his hands were on my skin which lulled me into peace, and overall… it was just him being next to me that made me feel like everything was okay. But I barely knew him… yet there was this feeling of happiness blooming in my chest.


	5. Chapter 5

**~*Dave Strider*~**

"So he just fell asleep like this?" whose voice was that?

"Yeah and he's been out cold since." someone else giggled. "He said he hasn't been sleeping well lately so I figured I'd leave him alone."

"I think he looks cute." another voice, this one higher in pitch and more cheerful. That's right, I knew these voices. "But these are in the way…" I felt the slightest brush of fingers at the corner of my eye as someone tried to remove my shades. That woke me up. My hand shot to where their wrist would be and held it tightly; forcing a surprised shriek out of the person I now glared up at. Jade. Rose and John were standing behind her, looking just as shocked at my sudden movement.

"Don't. Touch. The shades." I growled and she looked scared. I let her go and she backed up.

"Holy shit, don't scare me like that Dave!" she exclaimed, holding a hand over her chest as if trying to calm her fast beating heart. I sat up and stretched.

"Not my fault, that's just how I wake up when my shades are threatened." I stated as my arms fell onto my lap.

"I wasn't threatening them; I was just trying to take them off so you'd be more comfortable." Jade defended herself.

"That's a threat to me. Just letting you know now so I don't scare you like that again. Don't try to take 'em off cause I _will_ react terribly every time." I shrugged. "Just the way I am."

"Why is that a threat?" Rose asked and I shrugged again as if I didn't know.

"So when did you guys get here?" I asked, standing up and going for my shirt but I felt a set of hands placed on my body and turned to question whoever was feeling me up as their touch was unfamiliar. Jade, of course. "What are you doing?" I asked slowly and she blushed but didn't back off.

"Sorry, John's been telling me how amazing your skin is and I just had to feel for myself." she explained and my eyes turned to John, confused. He thinks I have amazing skin?

"I was talking about his robot arm!" John corrected, a deep blush covering his face. Another hand was placed on my shoulder, this one much more familiar and I knew it as John's even without seeing him there. "See most of it is right here in his shoulder." Jade's hands moved to where John's was and she let out an odd sound of excitement.

"Oh my god it does feel really cool!" she shouted and I sighed.

"Rose wanna join in on this little orgy that's about to take place?" I called to the other blonde and the other two blushed bright ass red and backed the fuck off to the other side of the room. "That's what I thought." I snickered and grabbed my shirt.

"So would you mind at all if I did feel?" Rose asked and I shook my head before holding my arm out for her.

"Oh so it's okay for her?" John complained.

"She didn't ambush me." I answered and they huffed as Rose's hands felt around my arm. "Besides, she was the first one to find out about it and never got to."

"True…" "True…" they agreed. After another minute or so, she backed off with a satisfied smile.

"Thank you that was a very interesting experience."

"No problem." I shrugged and put on my shirt. "So when did you guys get here?" I repeated my earlier question.

"Shortly before you were woken up." Rose replied and I nodded before heading for the door, everyone following me.

"I'm hungry, what are we having for dinner? Oh- Jade, did you bring the chocolate?" I asked excitedly and she nodded.

"Yeah it's downstairs." before she even finished, I was practically running down the stairs for it. When I got to the kitchen, I rummaged through the bag of goods on the counter next to the drinks but didn't find the chocolate so I checked the other bag to find quite a bit of the delicious treat. I grabbed all of it and went into the living room where everyone had gathered at the bottom of the stairs and watched me plop my fine ass down on the couch to start eating some of it. "Wow Dave…"

"Hey I have been craving this shit for a long time so fuck you guys." I said and Jade rolled her eyes as Rose moved to kneel on the floor next to me.

"So Dave, tell me about this person you're feeling rejected by." the tone of her voice reminded me of a therapist which made me raise an eyebrow as I sent her a questioning gaze. When she continued to wait for me to speak, I looked to John and Jade for an answer. They both shook their heads, silently telling me not to.

"Uh… no thanks, it's not something I like to talk about." I said and she sighed before standing up and sitting next to me.

"I'll get it out of you eventually." she stated and that kind of made me a little nervous.

"Anyway, everyone come get your drinks and such so we can discuss what movies to watch." John called and Rose got up to go into the kitchen. It seemed John had already been in there because he took Rose's spot at my side with his Root Beer and handed me a box of AJ which I thanked him for.

"I vote for some horror movies." I stated and I faintly heard John kind of whimper.

"What about Ghost Busters?" he suggested as the girls took their seats, Rose sitting next to John and Jade sat at the other end of the couch. "That's kind of scary."

"Is not." I chuckled, knowing he was probably just scared. "It's totally lame."

"What? No it's not Dave, Ghost Busters is awesome." he objected, his flustered attitude only making me laugh. Though this seemed really familiar. I felt like I had had this same conversation before which I believe I had won. But I couldn't really remember, it was a long time ago.

"Okay, so no Ghost Busters." Jade butted in before I could make another snide comment. "What else?"

"We could watch Beautiful Mind." Rose suggested and I saw John tremble ever so slightly.

"There's no way in fuck we are watching that." he ordered as he shook his head. I raised an eyebrow at that, questioning his quick denying of the movie I had never even heard of. Though it was Rose who had suggested it so maybe I didn't want to know what it was even about. I shrugged it off, waiting for someone to say something that I was interested in at the very least.

"Oh what about Resident Evil? I know you have it." Jade called excitedly and I held my fist out for her.

"Gold star for Jade." she laughed and fist bumped me while John just kind of shrunk back into the couch.

"I'm fine with that." Rose agreed and John sighed, nodding his head in acceptance since it was everyone against him.

"Okay, I'll go get it." he huffed in defeat as he pulled himself up from the couch and exited the room. I heard his footsteps going up the stairs, most likely going into his room. While he was gone, Jade leaned over Rose to get closer to me.

"So Dave I've been wondering, do you prefer girls or boys?" she asked and I almost blushed.

"Jade, that's hardly appropriate." Rose objected and I sighed in relief, thanking her in my mind. Regardless of what Rose said, she still looked at me with those big, practically begging, eyes of hers. I swear she was like a dog, she begged until she got what she wanted. I was about to tell her to mind her own damn business when John came back down, announcing that he found it. He put it into the DVD Player before coming back over to the couch, telling the long haired girl to move so he could take his seat again. Thank god- saved by John.

We skipped all the fucking commercials and went straight to the movie. Resident Evil: Degeneration. This was a good movie. Leon S Kennedy is such a badass! He's no Strider but if he were he'd be next to best, right behind Bro! Because… you know… I sure as hell wasn't a good Strider.

The plane crashing into the airport got me looking back up at the screen from my lap. Not long after that, Leon was introduced and I smirked at his badassery.

I reached down by my feet to grab my AJ when the zombie Angela had tried to help suddenly attacked her and John jumped before he leaned on me and wrapped his arms around mine, hugging it close to his chest. I stopped mid-reach to stare at him. I don't think he really even realized that he was clinging to my arm like someone hanging onto the rocks that are the only things keeping them from falling off the cliff they were climbing without ropes. His grip tightened when a zombie lady broke through a window to attack Greg. Make that someone who's deathly afraid of heights and right about to fall off of said cliff. I mean, damn this kid had a tight grip. Regardless that my arm felt like it was beginning to suffocate, I didn't say anything because I was oddly okay with this. Not him killing my arm but him being this close to me and seeking comfort from me. Comfort which I… I was willing to give to this boy. Why though? I still didn't really even know him yet somehow I felt like I knew him perfectly. It was an odd feeling but it was there.

He tensed up a little and slowly turned his head to see me before releasing my arm and apologizing. I grabbed my juice box, took the straw off the back, and put it through the hole on the top. I began sipping the wonderful juice as I held my arm out for him, silently telling him that it was okay. He refused it until another scary thing popped up and he had the same reaction only this time when things settled down, he didn't pull away. He actually laid his head on my shoulder and seemed to be trying to relax. I smiled inwardly and closed my eyes, also trying to relax but all the yelling and gunfire from the movie was making that a little hard.

I sighed a little in irritation, waiting for everything to calm down a bit though it only got rougher as we neared the end of the movie. Curtis had injected himself with the G Virus and Leon and Angela had to fight the monster though Angela had a hard time because Curtis is her brother, blah, blah, blah.

Finally, everything calmed down. Encouraging words from Claire, sexual tension between Leon and the big boobed bimbo, badass and redhead go their separate ways, and- oh no, look at that, stupid people are doing stupid shit again. The end. Good movie.

"Leon's seriously a badass. Did you see him booking it across that falling platform?" I yawned as I stretched, bringing out a sound of complaint from John since he had to move which I laughed at but didn't say anything about it.

"Yeah, he's cool." Jade chimed.

"Sorry Leon, but Bro could've done it better." I chuckled and received a few questioning gazes. "My brother's the best."

"You're not too bad yourself; I bet you could do it." Rose smiled at me. I nodded, folding my arms behind my head.

"I could do it but I don't think I could do it as fast or as flawless as Leon did it. Bro could though. He could do it better."

She shrugged. "I think you'd fare fine."

"Thanks for saying so."

"I believe in you too Dave." Jade called, raising her hand.

"I don't know, I think he would've gone down with it." John said smugly as he folded his arms. I actually smiled at that one.

"I lived through your arm crushing grip; I think I can survive a zombie apocalypse." I shot back with a smirk and he blushed. The girls laughed with me at that.

"Whatever, let's eat dinner." John grumbled as he released my poor arm and got up to march into the kitchen, said room's light flickering on immediately which made the rest of us chuckle, knowing he was scared. "Oh yeah, Dad made cake so if you guys want to get rid of it for me, that'd be great."

"Oh, I'll have some!" Jade chirped, jumping up to join him as Rose and I calmly got up to head into the kitchen as well.

"Where is he anyway?" I questioned, kinda wanting to see John get hit in the face with another cake because that was seriously one of the best fucking things I've ever seen.

"Mr. Egbert usually spends his time in the Study to leave us kids to our mischief." Rose explained and I nodded as I picked up a slice of Take-Out cheese pizza and took a bite. Sounded reasonable to me. When we all had our food, we made our way back to the living room to discuss which movie to watch next.

... ... ...

So we ended up watching 'My Bloody Valentine' and, because John nearly begged us to watch a funny movie so he wouldn't have nightmares, 'Love is Evol' a Christopher Tidus comedian movie. I hadn't heard of the guy before but I gotta say he's really funny.

Anyway, it's coming up on ten o'clock now and the others were discussing which night games to play, which I guessed was another tradition of theirs so I just went along with it, and I think they came to a decision because they started going around and turning off all the lights while I kept my ass right on the couch. When they came back, I listened to them as they explained how to play this game called Judgment. Apparently we were going to walk around the house playing a looped chain of hide and seek in the dark. Sounded pretty lame but whatever. I was starting out as 'The Judge' and would be leading this little thing. I still didn't really understand the point of this game nor could I find a real objective but whatever.

"So I just count to three over and over again and walk around the house as I try to find you guys since you guys are assholes and keep running away from me?"

"Yes." Rose stated and I sighed.

"Just so I have this straight: John is one, Jade is two, and Rose is three?" I asked, questioning my own sanity.

"Yup. And you're not allowed to peek behind you." Jade called and I did just that to see them standing in line right behind me in previously said order just to piss her off. She fumed, yelling at me about how I _wasn't_ supposed to turn around unless I was calling numbers. I just chuckled and faced forward again. I began walking around, first heading into the kitchen.

"One." I mumbled, turning slightly to see them. Everyone was in line.

"One." John said back before telling me to raise my voice a little more so they could hear me better. I sighed as I started walked around in a circle to leave the kitchen and going back into the living room.

"Two." I turned around as Jade repeated the number. Rose was gone. "What the hell? I haven't even called her number yet." I shrugged it off and kept walking, now seeking my target: Number Three.

The entire time we walked around, I started snooping around for the perfect place to hide. I also got out two juices boxes, one which I set on the counter to wait for me while the other was in my hand so I could drink it as the game continued. I found Rose and made her get her ass back in line but John and Jade had gotten away from me so I had to find them now. I was tempted to check the study but we weren't allowed in there since that's where John's dad was hiding out in so I didn't go in.

I made my way up to John's room where I found Jade and snagged a black blanket from the nerd's bed before heading back downstairs. I had found a small cupboard that was mostly empty in the kitchen and when we switched Judges, that's where I was going.

I sighed as the game went on and on and on. I called the next number and turned around, seeing that I still had everyone in line.

"Can we switch now?" I asked and the others looked at each other before agreeing. We just moved up in line, Number One, aka John, becoming the new Judge. Jade was now One, Rose was Two, and I was at the end of the line to be Three. Nearly as soon as we started, I took off. I grabbed John's blanket which I had previously left on the couch and wrapped it around my shoulders before stealthily making my way around the moving group to sneak into the kitchen and grab the juice box waiting for me, clear out that cupboard a little more, and rewrap the blanket around my body so my glasses where the only thing visible but they'd be too dark for anyone to notice. I heard John's voice just outside the kitchen doors and quickly slipped into the cupboard, silently closing the door and quieting my breath. They walked in though there were only two pairs of feet so I guessed one of the girls had gotten away from him after I did.

"Where could they have gone?" John's voice mumbled. The footsteps stopped by the sink and I heard one of the other cupboards open up and held my breath, knowing mine would be next. Sure enough, it opened and I saw John's face peering into the space. With any light coming in, I would've been easily noticed but with nothing but black to surround me, he didn't notice so much as a silhouette. He shrugged and closed the door again before walking off. I slowly let out my held breath and began sipping my apple juice.

... ... ...

"Dave, we're done playing now!" Jade's voice called as they continued to look for me.

"Yeah, so come on out." John called after her. I was lucky that they hadn't decided to turn on the lights rather than just searching for me all against one. Which was fine by me. Unless they really looked, they wouldn't see me in here. I was just going to stay there and not come out until I was found but when the thought crossed my mind to jump out and scare the shit outta one or more of them, I couldn't resist. I carefully started wriggling out of the warm blanket so I could move about more freely when I heard two pairs of footsteps walking into the kitchen. I slowed my movements and became ever more careful.

"I don't know where else he could be, we've checked everywhere." Jade sighed as the fridge was opened.

"I know, I even asked Dad if he maybe went into the study but of course he didn't." John. So I get to scare Egbert and Harley? Heh, this was gonna be great.

"I didn't think he would've. Dave seems to be a very slippery person." once I was free from the blanket, I listened intently to their movements, waiting for one of them to come closer. Someone moved right in front of the cupboard I was hiding in so I jumped out, grabbing their leg as I yelled.

"Boo!" two voices screamed as the poor person I had grabbed fell over and their screams died as my laughter dominated.

"What's going on?" Rose asked as she entered the room.

"What happened?" Mr. Egbert's worried voice shouted as he too rushed in. I was laughing too hard to answer.

"Damn it Dave! What the hell?" John demanded, his face flushed red though his dad sighed in relief that no one was hurt.

"I- couldn't-" I tried to calm down, beginning to succeed. "I couldn't help it."

"Try to keep the noise level down a few notches, kids. Wouldn't want to alert the neighbors."

"Sorry Dad." John mumbled as he stood up, leaving me laying on my back still laughing though it had calmed a great deal.

"Sorry for the noise." I called after John's dad as he left. John stared down at me and I just stared back.

"Were you in there the entire time?" I nodded. "But I checked in there like three times." I grabbed the blanket, showing it to him.

"I barrowed it from your room." I smirked and he rolled his eyes.

"Just be sure to put it back." I nodded again, saying that I would.

"On a different note, I think we should just go ahead and continue outside now." Jade called, clearing her throat.

"Outside? What for?" I asked as I rolled over onto my stomach before climbing to my feet to walk with the others into the living room.

"To play more games, silly." Rose chimed and I shrugged, agreeing to whatever it is that they wanted to do. A smile grew on John's face before he turned to rush up the stairs, exclaiming that he'd be right back only to return a moment later with an armful of stuffed animals which he dumped onto the ground.

"Uh… John is there something you're not telling us?" I questioned, looking over all the girly toys.

"Shut up Dave, Dad got them for me when I was a baby. They've been locked in my closet for years." he rolled his eyes at me as he began to dig into the pile. "We're playing capture the flag- well… capture the teddy bear." he shrugged, holding up said object. I rolled my shoulders a bit, getting ready to kick their asses on a mass level.

... ... ...

Yeah… I ended up being banned from flash-stepping and then John and Jade didn't wanna play anymore because I kept 'cheating' so we had to take apart the nest I had built with all the stuffed animals to take them inside and put back into John's closet. And now we were making our way back outside to play yet another game for some stupid reason, I forgot.

"Dave, you're it." Jade laughed, making sure to keep away from me.

"What are we even playing?" I asked, not moving from my position. I was currently leaning against the front door, arms folded, and one leg crossed over the other.

"Ghost in the Graveyard." the girl called back. I sighed with a roll of my eyes and closed the front door before joining them out in the road to play this stupid game. As the 'ghost' I had to hide and when they found me, I had to chase them back to the 'safe zone' which was apparently the tire swing hanging off a strong branch from the tree in front of John's house. I smirked to myself, thinking how they should've learned better than to let me hide because they would never find me. As they started counting or whatever, I walked around the house to view the roof. It was an in plain sight hiding spot and I liked it. I quietly snuck back into the house and went upstairs and through the door to get out to the balcony before climbing up onto the roof from there. I listened as John announced that time was up and they began their search.

Not even fifteen minutes later and they've already given up, telling me to come out. I only chuckled softly to myself as I watched them run around, looking for me regardless that they knew they wouldn't be able to. The irony was that all they literally had to do was look up and they would see me. I checked my phone for the time, seeing that it was nearing ten o'clock and I knew the girls would have to leave soon so I'd reveal myself before then but this was too fun to come out just yet.

Hearing a car, I looked around for it, finding it coming around the corner next to John's house and I took note of how reckless the driver was being. I paid no mind to it until I noticed John standing in the middle of the road, just turning to face the car that was flying at him.

Having no time to panic, I let my instinct take over and took action. I jumped off the roof and flash-stepped over to him as fast as I could to get my arms wrapped around him tightly before jumping out of the way, turning us around so I was the one that hit the ground though we rolled upon impact and I ended up on top of him. One of my hands held the back of his head, keeping his face buried in my neck and shoulder to protect him from receiving any damage to the head while my other arm was wrapped tightly around his waist to keep him close to me. I lifted my head from where it was to look at the boy underneath me, asking him if he was okay. He nodded, his face turning a bright red color.

"John!" "John!" the girls exclaimed, rushing over to help us up.

"I'm fine, no need to worry." I called sarcastically though there was anger in my voice as I turned back to watch the car hurry off. The person had swerved a little to miss him though thanks to me, the dumbass was already out of the way. Seriously, he should've moved rather than just standing there like an idiot.

"Dave!" I turned back to John who was pointing down at my leg. "You're bleeding!" I looked down to see that I was indeed bleeding.

"Huh so I am." I started across the street toward the house, not even so much as limping a little bit. "So what game am I kicking your guys' asses at next?" they followed me, giving me odd and somewhat accusing looks. "What? This is nothing, I've had way worse." I said and Rose rolled her eyes.

"That doesn't mean that you should just ignore that." I slumped in defeat, holding my hands up in mercy.

"Alright, I'll clean it."

"Uh… John we need to be going." Jade mumbled an interruption as we stepped into the house and he nodded.

"Okay, I'll tell Dad. He'll take you guys home and I'll take care of Dave's leg."

"I can take care of myself." I stated and he snapped at me.

"You got hurt because of me, it's the least I can do." I held my hands up again and he walked passed me to knock on the door to the room his dad was in to talk to him.

"What's his problem?" I asked the girls and they shrugged. He came back out a moment later with his dad. We said our goodbyes and they were gone, leaving me alone with John in his house. I slowly made a move to go sit on the couch but the other grabbed my arm and dragged me up the stairs and into the bathroom. I sighed and sat down on the toilet seat and rolled my pant leg up over the wound before folding my arms and leaning back as John rummaged through the drawers under the sink. When he found everything he was looking for, he moved to sit in front of me with his legs crossed.

After a few minutes in this awkward silence, I decided to speak up regardless that I had no idea what to say.

"So… come here often?" John's gaze softened for a moment and a smile appeared on his lips though it looked like he had tried not to allow it. Still, he hadn't answered. No luck. I sighed heavily as I watched the dork clean the blood from my leg. I hadn't even noticed it until he pointed it out, it didn't even hurt. It wasn't nearly as bad as a wound from a strife, a single hit from Bro brought on at least a little pain, this was nothing. Guess I was just used to greater deal of pain.

"Thanks Dave." I looked back at the dark haired teen, my eyes having wandered elsewhere as I had begun to space out. He seemed focused on what he was doing but I could tell he was frustrated. Best keep out of it.

"No biggy, just saved your life is all." I shrugged and I saw a bit of blush spreading on his cheeks.

"That _is_ a biggy." he spoke as the blood was now clean so he grabbed for the antiseptic wipes. "This'll probably sting." he warned and I shrugged it off, holding back a hiss at the all too familiar sting of cleansing chemicals. I was used to it but it still stung enough to piss me off.

"Look if you're so bent on thinking you owe me, I don't know what to tell you. AJ would be great but me and Bro got a bunch of the shit the other day so I'm set." I explained and John's eyes raised a little though he didn't look at me.

"There's gotta be something I can do. I'd feel bad if you saved my life and I didn't do anything for you in return." he pleaded and I heaved another sigh, rolling my head back in thought. I didn't want this kid hanging all over me about this or anything but for the life of me, I couldn't think of anything! "So… why did you save me anyway?" I looked at him again with curious eyes after he spoke, returning to his work. "It's not like we've known each other for very long or anything." I raised an eyebrow at this.

"Sorry, must've not gotten the memo saying I was supposed to let you get hit." I replied seriously which brought out a nervous chuckle from him.

"It's a legit question. Some people would let me get hit… I was just wondering why you didn't." he added and I stared at him blankly for a minute.

"Are you abused, John?" I asked bluntly and his eyes widened, shooting up to meet the darkness of my shades.

"No!" he exclaimed like it was a crime for even thinking it. That was a good sign.

"Are you bullied?" I tried again and this time, he slowly looked back down, saying nothing as he reached for a piece of sterile gauze to place over the wound. I nodded a little to myself. "That would explain the stupid way of thinking." I spoke, mostly to myself. We sat in silence for a few more moments. "Do the girls know?" he silently shook his head as he began to wrap my leg up. I sighed and changed the subject since I knew neither one of us wanted to have this talk. That and I knew I was fucking terrible at giving emotional support. I knew I'd just make everything worse. "Check it, bring me McDonald's breakfast every morning for a week and I'll count us even." I smirked. "And that includes the weekend. I expect it to be waiting for me in my room by the time I get up." the corners of his lips curled up and he nodded his head.

"Okay! What time do you usually wake up?" he asked with an excited voice as he tore off four pieces of medical tape to hold the gauze in place. I thought about it for a while.

"Whenever I wake up." I concluded, having no real consistent time. He sighed.

"Well if I don't know when you wake up, how can I make sure to have breakfast in you room by the time you get up?"

"Just bring it to school and during the weekend, swing it by my place before noon. Sound good?" I bargained before rolling my pant leg down now that he was done. I stood and stretched my leg, making sure it wasn't wrapped up too tight or too loose. It was okay.

"Alright." John nodded as he cleaned up the mess and put the first aid kit away. I started heading downstairs, scratching at my head as I thought about what to do about my new situation. John was being seriously picked on at school and the very thought of that pissed me off way more than it should.

"Are there any more Doritos left?" I called up to John.

"Uh… yeah, I think they're on the counter." he called back.

"Sweet." I mumbled to myself, making my way to the kitchen where I found the red bag though there were only crumps left in it. Regardless, I tilted the end of the bag up and ate them anyway. "So, what now?" I asked as John entered the room to lean against the counter next to me with a shrug.

"I'm not really sure…"

"I'm not quite ready to head home yet but I don't really wanna hang out here either." I explained as I threw away the now empty bag of Doritos and returned to my spot, folding my arms over my chest.

"Well… we could go for that walk now if you want."

"Sure, where to Mr. Egbert?" I teased, punching his arm lightly.

"Um… well we can go downtown. I can show you around there."

"Sounds good to me." I nodded as I pushed off the counter to walk over to the fridge, pulling it open to grab another juice box before going into the living room to throw my jacket on. John was slipping into his shoes when I met him at the door so I quickly put mine on as he held the door open for me. I stepped outside once I had my shoes on, zipping my jacket half way up my chest before stuffing my hands into my pockets when I realized I was missing something. I hurried back inside before John could close the door to grab my headphones which were lying in wait on the coffee table. I wrapped them around my neck so a muff was on either side of my head before returning to the colder air outside, giving John a thumbs up to say I was ready now.

"Okay, leggo." he said as he shut and locked the door before walking with me to the sidewalk, putting his hands in his pockets to keep them warm.

"Leggo?" I repeated with a chuckle.

"Yeah, I say that sometimes. Shut up." he blushed and I just shook my head as we slipped into silence.

"So what's up with your dad throwing a cake at you earlier?" I asked as I searched my phone for a song to put on as background noise.

"Well, Dad loves to bake but I don't really like stuff like that. But, well, let's just say that my dad's persistent in getting me to eat what he makes." he answered with a heavy sigh and I chuckled lightly.

"Sounds like someone else I know." I mumbled and out of the corner of my eye I saw John's eyebrow rise in question so I waved a hand in a dismissive manner as I put on a random song and set it to shuffle through my entire music selection. I heard the other sigh at being brushed off before he began to hum and at first, it was a little faint and hard to recognize but I knew it. I forced back a groan of disapproval as he continued humming 'How Do I Live' even though it was soft, it still bugged me. Not necessarily because he was humming but because of _what_ he was humming. Suddenly clamping my hand over his mouth to silence him, I looked around suspiciously. "Do you hear that?" his muffled voice questioned my movements but he stopped and looked around with fearful eyes, causing me to smirk at the success of freaking him out. The only sounds to be heard were our breath, the wind, and my music. "That's the sound of my brain cells dying." I said and he rolled his eyes, breathing out a relieved sigh. "They're crying out in fucking agony like a small child under a bus heading straight for Fuck-That-Shit Ville." I released him once I was done talking and returned my hands to my pockets as I continued walking again.

"Psh, what brains cells are there left to die?" he mocked and I waved him and his childish comeback off, pulling out a pack of gum out of my back pocket to serve myself a piece and offering one to John which he accepted and thanked me for. "You just don't appreciate good movies." he folded his arms defiantly.

"That song is as fucking stupid as the clown that plays with it." I stated as I stuck my gum in my mouth, chewing on the watermelon flavored treat and sticking its wrapper in my pocket to throw away later.

"You don't seem to understand. That is one of the greatest movies ever made." his hand moved to his chest dramatically. "It still makes me tear up a little when I watch it." I groaned in disgust.

"That's probably the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"Whatever Dave, I've sure me talking about a fucking great movie isn't the stupidest thing you've heard." he rolled his eyes and I shrugged.

"Guess not. Some chick once asked me out and said we were 'soul mates.' _That_ was definitely the stupidest thing I've ever heard." John laughed at that.

"Someone seriously said that to you?" I nodded and he continued to laugh.

"She was obsessive the next few weeks too. I kept finding a bunch of things on my locker, on my desk at school, and once I even found a love note taped to my apartment door. Slept with my sword in my arms like a stuffed teddy bear for days." I told the story which made John laugh harder.

"Sounds like you had a stalker!" I nodded again, agreeing with him.

We spent quite some time just talking about whatever. It was really nice. It was strange… this feeling. N-no! I… I loved Derp. This feeling was different, this wasn't the same. It had to be a different feeling entirely.

"Hey Dave?" he called to me, effectively grabbing my attention.

"Hm?"

"Thanks for coming today. I mean, to the whole movie night thing. I know you don't really know us yet but I'm glad that you still came out to do this with us." he smiled warmly at me and I couldn't help but to return it.

"Sure. Guess it was fun." I shrugged. "Sides I'm coming out of it with McDonalds for the next week. That's a win." he nodded, his eyes casting downward.

"Yeah…" he muttered and I sighed deeply, running a hand through my hair.

"John, stop it." I ordered a bit impatiently and he looked at me in surprise. "You nearly got hit by a car and I tackled you out of the way, possibly saving your life. It happened. You're fine, I'm fine, everything's fine, get over it." he blinked stupidly at me for a moment before looking down again. Shit… yeah, I'm terrible at this emotional stuff. "Everything's alright so I don't know why you're still stressing over it so much." I mumbled, hoping that may have cleared things up a bit.

"I know…" he started, his eyes remaining downcast though there was a small smile on his face. "I just feel terrible about putting you in harm's way because I was too terrified to move. But I guess you're right. We're both okay and it's over with." he turned his head to smile directly at me now. "Thanks again Dave."

"Wait- that actually helped?" I questioned incredibly, completely shocked that I didn't actually make this worse like I usually would have.

"Yeah, I mean, sometimes I need a smack in the face to get me to stop acting all sorry for myself. The girls don't understand that." he explained and I found myself nodding in understanding, knowing exactly what that was like though I got the feeling that Jade's constant affection was more common to help him whereas Bro's lectures brought me up but sometimes I did need some kindness and compassion from him.

"Well uh… you're welcome, I guess." I spoke a little awkwardly, scratching at the back of my head. "Usually I just mess things up and make people feel worse in the end so I'm glad that I managed to help." he nodded, his smile still present.

"So when are you planning on heading home?" he questioned after a few minutes of silence. I checked my phone for the time. We were already on our way back to his house and when we got there, I was kinda planning on getting my things and heading home.

"Fairly soon. Got some shit I need to do before heading to bed and I'd rather not be tired as fuck during school." I explained and he nodded slightly though he seemed a little down now. "What's wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing." he answered quickly, blush covering his face. I shrugged it off, figuring he didn't really want to talk about it if he was just saying it was nothing. Probably was just nothing.

We remained in silence all the way back to his house and while he started to take off his shoes and jacket, I left mine on. John took note of this but didn't say anything as he started for the kitchen to bring me the rest of my apple juice.

"I'd offer you a ride home but Dad's not back yet." he informed me and I smiled a bit and for once I was glad that his eyes were on the floor so he couldn't see. "You could hang around for a few minutes, I'm sure he won't take much longer."

"Nah, I'd rather walk." I shrugged, taking my AJ from him as he nodded.

**~*John Egbert*~**

I sighed as I stood at the window and watched Dave leave. It had been a little awkward right before he left. We both kind of just stood there and I felt like I should say something but I didn't know what. We settled for the usual, 'See you tomorrow.' bullshit and he left. Just like that. It made me sad that he was gone; I was hoping he could stay longer though I guess I still would've been sad then too.

Once he was out of sight, I turned and headed upstairs to my room to change into my pajamas before standing awkwardly in the center of my room. I debated with myself about whether I should jump on the computer and talk to God and maybe mess around on the internet for a while or if I should just go to bed. I decided I'd go to bed so that's where I went. I had to get up a bit earlier than normal in the morning and I knew that if I was to start talking to God, I wouldn't actually go to sleep for hours because we just wouldn't stop talking. It wouldn't be the first time it had happened. It was odd… Dave kind of reminded me of God. But then there were other times that I felt silly for thinking that. Like right now. Dave was a total cool kid, completely shut off to the world and a bit of a jerk while God was a very kind and open person. What on Earth made me think that they were a like in anyway? Maybe I was just thinking of strange things because I was tired. I yawned as I laid my head on my pillow after taking my glasses off and placing them on the nightstand beside my bed.


	6. Chapter 6

**~*John Egbert*~**

Turning back around to face what was in front of me, I shook my head. I was just being paranoid. Yet I knew I wasn't… it was one of those days, I could feel it. But why today? The girls' concert was today; couldn't they just leave me alone for today and pick another? I turned my head to look behind me again as I made my way down the hall to my locker. Before I could get it open, I jumped when someone's fist crashed against it next to my head. I spin around, keeping my back pressed to the blue lockers behind me as if I could just melt through them. My heart is pounding so harshly against my chest that I thought it would explode and I felt all the all the color drain from my face. I was so terrified; even I could almost smell it. They had caught me.

"You've been ducking under us all week." Simon's voice chuckled. "But that ends now. No more games." they had always been there to bully me. It had started in middle school with the usual rumors and talking behind my back though it slowly progressed to where they openly insulted me and made a game out of it. That all progressed to pushing me into lockers or other people, the usual stuff. But since high school had started Simon and his lackeys had made me their person entertainment. It has gotten to the point that they'll seek me out to beat me up when they were angry at whatever or just when they felt like it.

I looked around for anyone that might help me but there was no one down this hall. I did however learn that it was just him so I figured his friends weren't here yet though that didn't matter, he'd still beat the shit out of me. He roughly grabbed my chin and yanked it up so I would look back at him.

"Do I make myself clear, nerd?" my eyes watered and I was about to nod when he suddenly withdrew from me with a sharp hiss of pain. Red. The color red was all I saw but as I looked up, I saw more than just that. There was white as well… pale skin and blonde hair. His back is facing me so I couldn't see his face but I saw how much his hands had curled themselves into fists so tight his knuckles had turned white. I didn't need to sense his anger to know he was pissed beyond belief. "Who the fuck are you?" Simon barked at him but he didn't answer. Instead, he turned around and leaned against the lockers next to me and folded his arms, his hands favoring to grip at the fabric of his sleeves over digging into the flesh on his palm.

For a moment I wanted to tell him that it was okay, that he didn't need to defend me because I didn't want him to get hurt but I couldn't… I was being selfish. I wanted someone- anyone to be there for me to stick up for me and I couldn't ask him to stop his attempt to make my bully leave me alone. Would you ask your shield to lower when it moved to protect you from an incoming attack? I don't think so. And I needed a shield… and here he was.

Not being able to stop my hands, they moved to Dave's arm and held it tightly, silently telling him just how afraid of this person I was. He looked down at me a bit surprised but he didn't say anything about it. He actually seemed to loosen his tense muscles and calm down; his fists even came undone.

"Where's my breakfast? I'm hungry." he stated plainly and I just stared back. Regardless he had let it go; I could make out the small indentation on his lower lip where his teeth had just been. My shaking hands slowly lifted the McDonald's bag and when he took it from me; he was already digging through it. He pulled out one of the hash browns stored in it and stuck it in his mouth, freeing his hand to continue to rummage through the rest of the bag's contents.

"Who the fuck are you?" Simon yelled his repeated words causing me to flinch and hold onto Dave tighter as he threw his fist toward us, not caring which he hit but it was deflected with a single wave of Dave's hand as if he was doing nothing more than swatting away a pesky fly. "Wha-what?"

"Always get me at least one hash brown." Dave spoke around the food object in his mouth. "These things are delicious."

"Don't ignore me!" my bully shouted as he again tried to land a successful punch though he seemed like he was only interested in hitting the blonde now but it was once again blocked.

"A Snack Wrap sounds good for tomorrow." he said as he moved the bag to his side so his elbow could keep it pinned to his body, freeing up his other hand to pull the hash brown out of his mouth though a little less than half of it remained in his mouth so he could actually eat it. "Do they still sell muffins? I remember that they used to but someone said they didn't anymore." Simon's raged attacks on him continued but Dave acted like it was nothing and just talked to me casually as he ate his food. After he had finished two hash browns and the egg and ham biscuit, he turned back to me and told me to get whatever I needed from my locker. Still confused as hell, I slowly nodded and hesitantly released his arm to obey him but when I moved my bully went after me, exclaiming that I wasn't going anywhere. I jumped in surprise but Dave's hand was covering his in an instant as he caught his fist, a deadly glare now set on his expression. "Wrong move." Dave growled, his voice low and filled with poison. The blonde kneed the other in the stomach hard and Simon crumpled to the ground and all I could do was stare.

It was when Dave cleared his throat that I finally looked away from the floor where Simon lay groaning in pain so my eyes to could find their way to the blonde's sunglasses. Right, my stuff. I opened my locker and gathered what I needed before closing it and leaving with Dave as he began to walk away, once again rummaging through his food for what he wanted to eat next. He settled on the last hash brown and after what happened, I didn't dare tell him that I had wanted one of those. He deserved all of them and more for saving me again.

Neither one of us spoke as we walked down the halls to our shared first hour. Today was a half day so we would be let out of school sooner which I was grateful for so I wouldn't have to deal with the freak out that was sure to come while Dave wasn't around to protect me from Simon, who was sure to come after me as soon as he could. Seriously, there was no way they weren't going to try even harder to find me after Dave's little stunt- not that I'm complaining about it. I was really happy that Dave had stuck up for me… I just didn't like how pissed Simon was because I knew he would take it out on me the first chance he got. But it also meant less time with Dave during the two classes we shared today which made me sad.

"So… a snack wrap and some hash browns tomorrow, right?" I questioned, peeking over at him. His head turned toward me and I blushed as I looked away.

"Yeah." he answered simply, crumpling the empty bag in his hands before shooting it into a nearby garbage can. I was really glad that he wasn't asking what that whole thing was about because I didn't want to talk about it which I'm actually really sure that he understood. I really appreciated it… more than he knew.

"Would you like an apple juice with that, sir?" I added the last part sarcastically as I turned my head to smile at him.

"If you would be so kind, dear butler." he joked back, returning my smile. I laughed as we began talking and I hoped all day would seem as peaceful as this moment did.

... ... ...

First period came and went and Dave, Jade, and I just talked the entire time since we weren't really doing anything in class today due to our time being shorter than normal. I had P.E. second hour and Dave had Geometry but when we had to separate, we stood there as if both thinking the same thing. We didn't want to part ways. We wanted to stay together a while longer. Without saying anything, he had grabbed my hand and started toward my class. When I asked what he was doing, he just said that he didn't feel like doing math. I blushed, knowing that he was really just skipping his class so he could stay with me.

The P.E. teacher took attendance and set out some basketballs and such before just telling us to have fun. I doubt she even knew that Dave was there. We didn't spend much time talking in this class, we were too busy and by that I mean he was busy kicking my ass at everything we did and I was busy bending over and taking it. Not literally. I'm not a homosexual.

Third hour Language Arts was shared and we continued to submerge ourselves in conversation until it was over.

Lunch isn't served on half days so we went straight to fourth hour but… we were faced with the same problem as before. Separation. He had P.E. with Rose now and I had theater with Jade. I couldn't ditch because we were going to be talking about our next assignment and getting scripts, not to mention that Dad would kill me. Again, Dave was the one to work things out and sacrifice his classes for me. He was going to pop into the Gym for a minute to talk to Rose while attendance was taken before slipping out and joining me in my class. I knew my teacher wouldn't care since it was a short day and he had gym, meaning they weren't going to be doing anything. He told me to head to class and he'd meet me there in a little bit. I nodded and agreed to that. So here I am, standing outside of my classroom waiting for him. I told my teacher he was coming and such and he said that was fine, like I said, he was cool with it. But the doors locked automatically when they were shut so I had to stay out here and hold it open.

I felt uncomfortable just standing out here in the opening… what if Simon knew where I was and was watching, waiting to strike? I wasn't sure when Dave was going to get back… what if he didn't get to me in time? Or… no… what if they attack him? I… no… I don't know what I would then! I want to believe that I would rush to help him but I was scared! Would I be able to handle something like that? If Dave was there… maybe I could be strong like him and help him especially since it would be because of me that he was in trouble. I jumped in fear and surprise when someone nudged me. I only relaxed when the person chuckled. I would know that chuckle anywhere.

"Jumpy much?" he asked with the flat tone he always used. Dave. Relief flooded my mind. It was just Dave. He was okay- everything was okay. He was safe and I was safe because of him. I stepped closer to him to wrap my arms around his torso, keeping my face in his chest. I wanted him to always keep me safe. "Uh… John?" his questioning voice called to me and I finally looked up at him. He was blushing ever so lightly and his hands were held up and away from me as if they didn't know what else to do. My face heated up as I finally backed off, letting him out of my tight embrace. His arms lowered back down to his sides.

"Sorry, I just…" I stopped as he shook his head a little to cease my apology.

"It's fine." he reassured me and I smiled sheepishly at him. He gestured passed me and I nodded slightly before turning around to walk into my class with Dave following. There were some stares and murmurs as people saw Dave walk in after me. Even though this was only, what, his third day? He'd already gained quite a name for himself as the mysterious and badass cool kid that no one could get close to. And here he is, friends with a nerd like me. Though… when I thought of it like that, why _was_ he friends with me? I couldn't find an answer. He was a cool kid that could do _so_ much better and I was a just a nerd… a nobody. I shook my head as I sat at my desk, watching Dave as he pulled a chair up to sit next to me. It didn't matter why, we were friends and that was that. He was just a cool guy that didn't care about high school titles. End of story.

We sat in silence as the teacher told us what we were going to be doing and after he had passed out our scripts, we still remained in silence. I tried to focus on the words and maybe start to memorize them but my mind kept wondering to the male at my side. I've heard a lot of the rumors floating around, the good and the bad, but there was one subject that always stuck out to me. His eyes and the reason he wears his shades. I've heard all sorts of rumors that people are spreading about them.

'He always wears them because he has a permanent hang over.'

'He was in an accident and lost one of his eyes and doesn't want anyone to know.'

'He's actually blind but doesn't want anyone to know.'

'He's a demon sent from another dimension and his eyes are like a gateway or reveal the truth.'

'He has laser beams for eyes and if he takes his sunglasses off, he'll lose control.'

Needless to say that some are much more believable than others. But I wanted the truth. I mean there had to be something up with them if the school allowed him to wear them all the times, no questions asked.

"Dave?" my voice spoke without my permission and when the other looked up to acknowledge me, it continued before I could stop it. "Can I see your eyes?" the entire room seemed to go quiet with anticipation. The older teen seemed really uncomfortable now and I highly regretted asking that question but there was no taking it back now.

"No." he answered without much hesitation. I nodded in understanding, feeling stupid and guilty for asking. I really needed to learn how to control myself better.

**~*Dave Strider*~**

I was lost in thought for the first time that day, having been distracted by everything John and I had been doing all day. Knowing I had put a bigger target on his head, I figured I'd better stay with him to make sure he was okay and luckily nothing had happened. That aside, today was fun… and I couldn't help but to feel guilty because… well it wasn't just a friendly feeling that was working its way into me. No, this was stupid. Why was I even thinking like that? I was in love with Derp. This feeling is just an effect of being around John all day and having nothing else to compare it to, nothing more.

I turned my head when John called my name, grateful that I was pulled away from my thoughts.

"Can I see your eyes?" he asked with pleading eyes though I could see the hesitation in them. Shit. I knew this was going to happen at some point but I wasn't expecting it to impact me so terribly. I felt wavered and confused for a moment, not knowing exactly what to do. Stop it! I couldn't show any hesitation! I'm a Strider damn it!

"No." I replied plainly, turning my head to face away from him. He nodded as his blue eyes fell downward. I sighed and smacked his head before leaning back in my chair, folding my arms across my chest.

"What was that for?" he demanded with a pouty face as he rubbed his head. He was so cute- stop it.

"I felt like it." I shrugged before separating my arms to place a hand on my left shoulder as I rotated it a few times. I didn't realize how stiff it had gotten. Shit, it was probably freezing. I should probably call Bro and ask him to get everything ready so we could work on it when I got home so it would be fine for the concert tonight.

"Are you okay?" John asked and I nodded.

"Yeah my shoulder's just feeling stiff."

"Is it getting cold?" he questioned and I raised an eyebrow at him. When did… that's right, I told him about it yesterday.

"Yeah, it's starting to feel like it's gonna freeze up soon." I answered, getting my phone out of my pocket as I motioned the other boy to start rubbing my shoulder. He leaned forward to do that as I called Bro and held the device to my ear, looking up to find John's face closer to mine than I thought it was going to be. He looked a little red in the face and I could feel mine heating up slightly as well.

"What's up?" Bro's voice asked on the other line and I quickly turned in the chair so John and I were no longer facing each other but he still had access to my shoulder so he could continue to rub it.

"Hey Bro." damn it my voice sounded a bit off. I cleared my head a little before continuing, glad that I sounded normal again. "My shoulder's starting to freeze. Have you started making the stuff to fix it yet?"

"Nope. Sorry Lil Man but in truth, I haven't even started planning it." he chuckled a bit sheepishly.

"The hell, man? You said you'd have at least the plans on it done by now." I protested, my free hand moving to rub the bridge of my nose.

"I have a bunch of other shit to do too; I can't work on it all at once." he defended himself. "I'll get working on it now, okay? I'll try to have it done by next week. But for now, just make sure to wear your sleeve."

"Okay." I sighed. "You'll have to find it though cause I have no idea where it is."

"Alright. Talk to you when you get home."

"Later." I responded before hanging up.

"So what's going on?" John asked, his hands still massaging my skin through the fabric of my shirt.

"Bro hasn't even started on the new stuff but he's a busy guy so whatever." I sighed again as I laid my head on John's desk. "Guess I just expected him to put it as top priority when I shouldn't have."

"So what's the worst that could happen?" John asked cheerfully like that was supposed to make it all better.

"If it freezes, I won't be able to move my arm at all and it'll be stuck in a sling until Bro either reconnects the nerves like usual but we won't do that this time, he'll just have me wait until he's done with the new stuff cause he'll have to reconnect everything anyway. And to top it off, I'll be in a shit load of pain and my new room will reek of blood for a few weeks." I explained and his eyes widened. "Well I guess we could do it in a different room since we actually have other rooms to do this kind of stuff in now." I lifted my phone to where I could see it and texted Bro, saying that we could turn one of the upstairs rooms into our own little hospital.

"Well… let me know if you need anything." I nodded at the other.

"How much more time is left until school gets out?" he looked up, probably at a clock.

"Less than ten minutes." he stated and I sat straight, taking my arm back to stretch both above my head. It was still feeling just about as stiff but I could deal with it until I got home.

Once school was out, we met up with the girls and talked until we reached the corner where they branched off before continuing on without them. John had given me an odd look when we passed my turn and I continued to walk with him but I didn't say anything. I wasn't about to admit it out loud that I was still worried about him and wanted to make sure that he got home safely or that I still didn't want to separate. If he caught on then good for him, I'll deny it if he decides to comment on it.

"Um… thank you Dave." his low voice shyly called to me. I looked down at him to find his eyes were elsewhere and there was a little red on his cheeks. "For walking me home. I appreciate it." he peeked up at me before looking away again.

"Sure." I reply smoothly. So much for denying it though I guess he didn't actually comment on either of the things I was trying to avoid being spoken on loud because it was obvious that I was walking him home so… whatever, I was thinking too hard about this. It was a little detail that didn't matter.

Silence fell over us again until we stood at his doorstep. John had already unlocked the front door and was half way through it when he turned around to say good bye.

"Thanks again." I just nodded. "I'll see you at the concert." he stated questionably like he was making sure I would say yes.

"I promised the girls I'd show." he smiled at that, nodding slightly. We waited in an awkward silence though it wasn't awkward because it was weird, it was awkward because I felt that there was something missing to this goodbye and I couldn't figure out what it was and I got the feeling that he had come face to face with the same issue.

"Well… you better get home and uh… and take care of your arm." he said, lazily gesturing to my left arm.

"Yeah." I nodded again as I shifted my weight uncomfortably. "Yeah… see ya." I waved as I turned to leave.

"Bye…" I heard him mumble sadly before turning to close the door. I sighed when I heard the faint click, glad that it was finally over though now that I was alone, the atmosphere seemed to be tenser and the air around me seemed thicker. I guess that spending a full day in someone's presence and then suddenly being away from them would do that to anyone; it would go away soon enough.

The walk was shorter than I thought it would be but then again, I've always been a fast walker. When I walked into the house, I was greeted with something thrown in my face. My sleeve.

"Thanks." I called to bro as I made my way to the stairs.

"Leave it on this time." he called from the kitchen where he was leaned over his grid sheet, most likely working on the plans for my arm. I just rolled my eyes as I ascended the stairs and entered my room. Last time my arm froze up, I kept taking the sleeve off because it's uncomfortable which resulted in my arm freezing. If I had just kept it on, it most likely wouldn't have. I flattened myself on my bed with my arms spread out to my sides, not wanting to put the damn thing on though I knew I had to. After a few minutes, I finally dragged myself up and took off my shirt. I grabbed the red colored sleeve from my bed and slipped my left arm through it until it covered my shoulder up to my neck, ending down at my wrist, before pulling the strap on either side of it around my chest where the two ends came together like a seatbelt. It was uncomfortable and I already wanted to take it off. It wasn't that warm at the moment but this thing has gotten to the point where it was too hot for even me to bear. And I love the heat so that's saying something.

I sighed and left it alone, leaving my shirt off as I sat at my computer desk and turned it on. Pesterchum was the first thing I got on and I was a little disappointed to see that Derp wasn't on but moved on to check all my shit. I had a few hours to kill so why not just do random bullshit on the internet? Seemed distracting enough to me.


	7. Chapter 7

**~*Dave Strider*~**

I had successfully kept myself distracted while waiting for six o'clock to roll around but time wasn't on my side and moved slowly just to torment me. Regardless, I managed. Bro came up a few times to make sure I still had the sleeve on and it actually wasn't really bothering me too much today. It was still uncomfortable but it was at a nice temperature so I didn't mind it too much though I've noticed that it doesn't really bother me until I put a shirt on over it. Then it's a fucking killer.

I got a bit excited when I saw that ectoBiologist's chat window lit up after he sent me a message.

- ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] -

EB: hey it's been like two days since we last talked, what's up?  
TG: not much whats up with you  
EB: getting ready to leave actually.  
TG: oh thats cool  
EB: but i'll talk to you when i get back.  
TG: you better  
TG: ive missed you dude  
EB: i've missed you too. :B

I blushed slightly at that and checked the time. I should be getting ready to leave too because we should be leaving soon and by getting ready, I mean putting my shirt back on.

EB: i should probably get there early in case the new kid is there.

And now I was pissed.

TG: why does it matter if hes there or not?  
EB: well we've spent all day together and i'm looking forward to seeing him again.

The fuck?

TG: gaaay  
EB: i'm still not a homosexual.  
TG: whatever  
TG: im still your best bro right  
TG: i mean  
TG: hes not starting to replace me is he?

Why did I feel so threatened by this person? Whatever the reason, I knew I was being selfish by not letting him go and be with this person whether in a romantic way or as a best friend. This person was able to actually be there for him where I couldn't and… and I wasn't any good for him anyway. He deserved better than a demon. But I just couldn't let him go. I love him.

EB: no!  
EB: why would you think that?  
TG: well you really seem to like him  
TG: and he can actually be there  
TG: and ill always just be words on a screen  
EB: that doesn't matter to me god!  
EB: besides i could say the same thing to you  
EB: to you i'm nothing more than words on a screen.

He's not accusing me of not caring about him; he's just repeating what I said. I know he's not… but I still took it that way. It was a low blow and it hurt like hell.

TG: bullshit!  
TG: open your eyes!  
TG: youre much more than that to me!  
TG: stop being so fucking stupid eb!  
EB: whoa.  
EB: dude calm down, i'm just making a point.

My eyes widened as I realized what I just did. Why the fuck did I just burst out like that?

TG: im sorry  
TG: im just stressed  
EB: it's alright.  
EB: are you okay?  
TG: im fine  
TG: have fun wherever youre going

- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering ectoBiologist [EB] -

I quickly exited the chat and logged off of pesterchum before standing, taking off the sleeve and slipping into my shirt. I didn't even want to bother with it right now so fuck it. Having left my shoes on when I got home, I grabbed my jacket and exited my room, taking the stairs by two as I hurry down them. I heard Bro ask something about me having the sleeve on but I just ignored him and left. I didn't feel like talking, I didn't feel like going for a drive, and I didn't feel like being in a crowded school gym. I sighed deeply as I started what was sure to be a long walk to the school, hoping it would calm me down.

The crisp air was brisk against the skin that was left exposed on my body and though it wasn't really windy, it was still cold. I seriously hated the weather here, I much preferred the heat. But I guess it was helping me think… though I didn't really want to think at the moment. I didn't want to think about Derp who was being a jackass, I didn't want to think about his crush on the new kid at his school, I didn't want to think about my fears of meeting him, and I definitely didn't want to think about the dork that was waiting for me at the school. I didn't want to think about the feeling I got when I was around him, the one welling up in me now that I was thinking about him. I didn't want to think about how much he understood me… no, stop it, I wasn't going to fall for this trap my mind was setting me up for. John was a friend- not even a very close one at that… I wasn't going to think of him like that.

'I love Derp.' though with that thought in mind, it made me think just how much longer I could deny that love was indeed what I was feeling for John as well. 'No- what am I even thinking? Bull shit! I love Derp. I love him and…' I sighed. 'I shouldn't even be admitting that because it goes against my name, goes against my being a Strider.' I sighed deeply as I hung my head a little.

Someone honked at me and I turned my head just as Bro's truck passed. I waved weakly at him as he continued on. I decided to put some music on to cover the silence and to give myself something to focus on.

After a while, I began looking around as I was beginning to realize that I actually had no idea where I was but I refused to believe that I was lost. Though after not much longer, I had to accept the fact that I had no idea where I was and since I hadn't memorized the school's address, I couldn't find my way using the street signs. I sighed deeply, realizing that I would have to call Bro and tell ask him to come get me or risk missing the girls' concert and end up wandering around all night. So the question is: which would I rather deal with? Jade complaining and being mad at me for not showing up or Bro's nonstop teasing for getting lost?

I sighed deeply, knowing I would end up calling Bro anyway because there was no way I was going to break my promise. I said I was going to show up so I was going to. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and was about to call Bro when I felt someone near me- too close. I flash stepped to the side and stared at the guy who had just tried to punch me in the back of the head. He looked shocked that I had suddenly disappeared like that and I would bet anything that he was trying to figure out how I did it. I peeked behind me when I felt others beginning to surround me as the boy was joined by others. Some of them seemed familiar… where have I seen some of these guys before and why did they piss me off?

One of them opened his mouth to speak but with my music blaring in my ears, I couldn't hear a word of it. Not that I bothered to tell him that nor did I take my headphones off. I stood there for the time of two full songs, going into a third before he finally caught onto the fact that I wasn't listening to anything he was saying. Now I'm not the best at lip reading but it was clear that he was swearing and cursing me at this point. I rolled my eyes and turned off my music, unplugging my headphones and hanging the cord around my neck. Yeah he was pissed.

"Are you done rambling yet? I kinda need to get going." I called over to him and he turned his full attention back to me.

"Yeah fucking right!" he howled. "You're gonna pay for what you did this morning!" I racked my brain, trying to remember what happened this morning. I spent all day with John and oh! That's right, John. These assholes are Egbert's bullies. I chuckled and shook my head, running a gloved hand over my hair.

"Look, as much as I'd love to stick around and pummel you guys, I promised I'd be at the school concert thing so would you assholes mind if we settle this sometime later? Oh and I got a little turned around so if you could point me in the right direction, that'd be great too. Otherwise I'm gonna have to call my Bro and I'll never hear the end of it." I looked down at my phone when it started to vibrate in my hand as it played the My Little Pony Theme Song. I quickly answered it, knowing exactly who it was without even checking the Caller ID. "Bro I swear to god if you ever put anything remotely related to My Little Pony on my phone again, I'll cut off your dick!" I growled but was shocked when it wasn't Bro's voice that spoke on the other end of the line.

"Uh… Dave?"

"John?" I questioned before face palming. "What the fuck are you doing with my brother's phone?"

"Is he fucking serious?" someone asked incredibly. "Is he seriously taking a call right now?" I ignored them and continued talking to John.

"Well I was worried because you haven't shown up yet and the girls are getting ready to play. I asked your brother if he could call you and ask where you were but he just handed his phone to me." he explained and I sighed, shaking my head.

"Put him on real fast." I ordered and I guess he obeyed because Bro's voice now greeted me.

"What's up Lil Bro?"

"Don't you fucking ever touch my phone again." I hissed venom, hoping it would seep through the phone and into his ear to rot his brain. "If I _ever_ find that fucking song on my phone again, I will murder you in the most horrendous of ways ever to be imagined."

He only laughed. "It was funny and what do you expect me to do? Not prank you every time you carelessly leave your phone lying around? I think not."

"Bull shit it's funny! Tell you what; every time I have to hear anything related to that stupid series, I'm gonna introduce one of your stupid Smuppets to the blender."

"Hey, not cool." he snapped. I was about to come back with something totally sick when my timing was thrown off by another dude attacking me which I easily dodged. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, just a few reckless fucks that want to get their asses kicked." I stated, hearing a few snide comments on that from around me. "Put John back on."

"Is everything alright?" said dork's voice asked.

"Tell the girls that I might be late. A bunch of idiots are trying to jump me so I'm not exactly sure when I'll show. Tell em sorry for me, kay?"

"What? You got jumped? By who?"

"Those assholes from yesterday, plus some."

He was silent for a moment and I heard him take a shaky breath. "Where are you?" he finally asked so I found a street sign and read it to him. "I'm on my way." I was about to tell him not to bother because I'd already be done here by the time he showed up but he hung up before I could. I guess it was for the best though because now I wouldn't have to ask Bro to come get me and Jade wouldn't be mad, what can I do, I got jumped. Totally not my fault that I'm going to be late. Though I did feel a little bad that I was indirectly making John late too.

"Anyway, back to you assholes." I called to no one in particular after changing Bro's ringtone back to 'Pretty Rave Girl' by I Am X-Ray and returning my phone to my pocket. "John's on his way so I'll make quick work of you guys since you all obviously have death wishes." I glared as a few started laughing. "Tell me…" I trailed off as I lifted the sheathed sword attached to my side. "What do you think this is?"

"It's not real." the leader snickered.

"How can you be so sure?" I asked as I unsheathed it, exposing the long silver blade. I slowly ran the tip across the pad of my thumb, allowing it to easily cut through my skin with its razor sharp edge to draw blood which ran down my finger. "I guarantee that it's not just for show." I smirked before sticking my thumb in my mouth to clean the blood off of it, my tongue running over the salty surface to pick up the deliciously familiar cooper taste of the crimson liquid. "And after all the shit you've been doing to Egbert, I think you deserve a few cuts- maybe even some stitches. But don't worry, I promise I won't kill you." I said coolly, twisting the handle in my hand a little as I rolled my head back a bit to pop my neck so it wouldn't be so stiff during the fight. "So if you've got the balls, come at me."

**~*John Egbert*~**

I sat anxiously in my seat, my foot tapping against the ground. The girls' group was up after just another two songs from the group that was already playing and Dave was nowhere to be seen! Seriously, he promised! That asshole better not be slacking off at home or something. I sighed deeply as I continued to watch the entrances, waiting for Strider to make his appearance. What if… what if something happened to him? No, enough of those thoughts, Dave was fine. He could take care of himself. I just needed to think about something else to keep calm.

Before coming here, I had been talking to my best bro and I have no idea what happened but I knew he was pissed at me. I figured he was just stressed and needed someone to be mad at so if he wanted to use me to fill that role then so be it, I would play it until he was better again. But… I don't know, the things he said still kind of hurt. I knew I was dense sometimes but I wasn't stupid, I could tell that he was afraid of losing me as his best bro but he should know better than to think that some new kid could replace him no matter how cool Dave is. God is there for me in his own way, it doesn't matter that he's not here in person, he should know that.

I sighed deeply, trying to stop thinking about it. It wouldn't do anyone any good if I was all down in the dumps over something that was probably nothing.

My heart jumped and I sat up more at the sight of familiar blonde hair but my body slumped in defeat when I realized that it wasn't Dave though he looked like him. He had the same color of hair though somehow it actually looked a little lighter and it was styled up though his gray hat covered most of it. He wore a simple white shirt with a high collar, black pants that were tight fitting just as his shirt was, and dark gray shoes. Now that I thought about it, I know I've seen him before somewhere… that's right! He was with Dave at that restaurant when I first met him! I thought about approaching him and asking where Dave might be but thought better of it, it'd be too awkward. I mean, he didn't know me and I didn't know him. So I stayed put at least until I saw Rose put her violin case on the ground next to her chair and get up from her spot next to Jade, with said girl following her, to run up and greet the man. It was then that I got up; slipping passed the other audience members to join them though I approached them cautiously, feeling a little intimidated by this man.

"Sup Rose?" the man greeted, pulling her into a hug which she accepted. It was odd; she seemed really comfortable with him. I froze up when he looked at me and Jade. "Oh are these your friends Dave was telling me about?"

"My friends?" she questioned, looking up at him curiously.

"Yeah Dave's still being a stubborn prick and won't call you guys _his_ friends." Rose rolled her eyes as she let the man go and he let her move away from him. That's… that hurt… actually. He didn't think of me as a friend at all? Or… maybe things changed after today and he just didn't tell his brother? Yeah… that had to be it. There was no way we weren't friends.

"Uh… do you know where he is?" I asked quietly, enough so to surprise me a little that he had heard me.

"He's on his way. He got a little pissy earlier and started walking." he explained and the bad feeling that had been rising in me only got worse. Something happened to him, I just know it.

The song that was playing ended and the current group playing started their last one. The girls were next.

"We need to go get ready." Jade called to Rose, grabbing her arm and beginning to drag her back over to their seats.

"Thanks for coming Dirk!" Rose called back and said man waved to her. Dirk… so that was his name.

"So what's your name?" he asked and I jumped a little.

"John Egbert." I all but squeaked.

"Well I'm Dave's brother, Dirk Strider. And just so you know, I don't bite unless you give me a reason to so relax." he never offered his hand or anything as he made his way over to the bleachers to take a seat but I stopped him.

"Uh well… do you think you can call Dave? I mean, he's late and the girls are getting ready and he's still not here." I played with my thumbs as I spoke.

"And you're worried something happened to him." he stated and I blushed as I nodded. God was this guy always like this? Reading people's minds and shit. He chuckled as he retrieved his black phone with an orange cover over it, ran his thumb over the touch surface, and handed it to me. I saw that it was calling 'Lil Bro' so I took it and held it to my ear. It was answered after only two rings.

"Bro I swear to god if you ever put anything remotely related to My Little Pony on my phone again, I'll cut off your dick!" I was speechless for a moment at his words but slowly forced awkward words from my mouth.

"Uh… Dave?"

"John? What the fuck are you doing with my brother's phone?"

"Well I was worried because you haven't shown up yet and the girls are getting ready to play. I asked your brother if he could call you and ask where you were but he just handed his phone to me." I defended myself.

"Put him on real fast." I was commanded so I handed the small device back to its owner.

"What's up Lil Bro?" he asked cheerfully and started laughing after a moment. "It was funny and what do you expect me to do? Not prank you every time you carelessly leave your phone lying around? I think not." I smiled as I put the pieces together that Dirk had put something to do with My Little Pony on Dave's phone when he wasn't looking. I gained a little respect for this dude. A prankster like me, maybe he wasn't so bad. "Hey, not cool." Dirk snapped, suddenly getting serious. "What's going on?" he sighed and shook his head though there was a smirk present on his lips. He handed the phone back to me.

"Is everything alright?" I asked, becoming more worried.

"Tell the girls that I might be late. A bunch of idiots are trying to jump me so I'm not exactly sure when I'll show. Tell em sorry for me, kay?"

"What? You got jumped? By who?" now I was beginning to panic. Something bad did happen to him! Was he okay?

"Those assholes from yesterday, plus some." my eyes widened and I fell silent but after a few seconds, I forced myself to suck up my fear and speak.

"Where are you?" he gave me an address and I nodded to myself before telling him that I was on my way and hanging up before giving Dirk his phone back. "I'm going to back Dave up, please tell the girls that I'm sorry for me." he nodded with a raised eyebrow.

"Sure but just a warning: by the time you get there, he'll already have things wrapped up." Dirk called after me as I started walking away. I shook my head, not caring. I had to try. This was my problem, not his. He got sucked into this because of me and I couldn't just sit back and do nothing when he was in danger. He shouldn't have to clean up after me, I could handle this myself. Who am I kidding, that's such bull shit. I was terrified of those guys but… Dave was in trouble because of me… I _had_ to do something to help!

**~*Dave Strider*~**

Though quite a few of the members of this little bulling club had run away when they found out I was serious about using my sword, there were still at least twelve others that had stayed. While I was kicking some serious ass, I had gotten hit a few times when there were too many of them coming at me at once. Not that it mattered, a few punches was nothing compared to what I'm used to.

I did, however, sheath my sword at some point to start swinging it like a bat. It was faster and easier on me because I didn't have to worry about over doing it and slicing someone in half so I was faring better now since I had done that though I did have to keep an eye on how much strength I put into each swing so not to bash someone's head in or give them a concussion or anything though they would deserve it. But I had to say that it was hard to be careful and take it easy on these guys with three things in mind. One: All the shit they've been doing to John. Two: John was fucking terrified of them. Three: John was on his way here. I had to finish this before he got here or things would only get harder. I would have to protect him and myself while keeping him calm and giving him emotional support, which I'm terrible at, feigning off these fuckers, _and_ kicking their asses. Yeah. I'm real excited for all that serious multitasking. I'd rather just focus my attention on the fight and not killing my opponents.

I heard distant footsteps coming closer to me from behind and when they got close enough, I started to spin around to connect the my sheathed sword to the side of their head only to force myself to stop when my mind put a face to the voice calling my name. Before me stood John, his terrified eyes looking at the sword only a hairs length away from his head.

Noticing that the others had backed off a little, I stood straight, holding my weapon to my side.

"Oh, hey. You're early." I panted before wiping some sweat from my forehead.

"Wha…what the fuck Dave? You could've taken my head off!" he screamed at me, his panic still grasping at his mind.

"Nah, sheath's still on." I shrugged as I took this moment to stretch my left arm a little since it was getting really stiff and quiet hard to move. It's been out in the cold too long. The only thing keeping it from freezing completely was that I was moving so much, keeping up my body temperature but that wasn't going to work forever. John was about to object when someone decided to attack him from behind. I quickly grabbed his arm and yanked him closer to me before using his shoulder as support to bring my lower body up and kick the dude coming at him before he was able to get to the other. I felt my support failing and was able to get my feet back under me to save myself before John fell. "Keep up Egbert." I warned as he got back up.

"You surprised me with that! Warn me next time!" he shouted. As the others came in closer, I turned my back to him and soon felt him against me, his hand gripping the wrist of my jacket tightly. "What now?" he asked, a bit of a desperate tone to his voice.

"Now? You do exactly what I say, when I say it. No questions. No hesitation." I turned my head to look back at him. "There's your warning." his head turned to me as well, his eyes still fearful. I knew he was afraid which lead me to be impressed that he was even here, willing to fight. I handed my sword to him and he looked at me funny. "Keep it sheathed and take good care of it." I said and he nodded slightly before facing forward again so I did too. I guess it was a bit easier like this actually, without a weapon. I wouldn't have to worry nearly as much about killing someone.

... ... ...

I let out a big lungful of air at the relieving sight of the remaining bullies running off in fear and defeat.

"Looks like we finally won." I called to John only to have his lowered voice respond.

"I was only in the way." he said as he handed my sword back to me.

"I thought it was pretty good team work." I stated but he didn't answer. "You're still a total noob but you didn't do too badly for what I take to be your first fight." I turned back to see the dark haired teen moving to sit on the curb, bringing his knees close to him to rest his head on them. I sighed and walked over to sit next to him, remaining silent as I didn't know what to say. "Come here often?" was the first thing that came to mind. John rolled his eyes with a small smile.

"Don't you have any other corny pickup lines?" wasn't quite the response I was hoping for but at least he answered at all this time.

"Do you have a mirror in your pocket? Cause I see myself in your pants." that one got him to laugh he even threw in his own lines.

"Dave…" he tried to look at me seriously but it looked like he was on the verge of laughing again. "I hear sex is a killer- wanna die happy?" and on with the laughing though this time, my own laughter joined his.

"If I said you had a great body, would you hold it against me?" I noticed his face got redder after that and it only continued to get brighter as we continued taking ours turns.

"If you were a new burger at McDonald's, you'd be the McGorgeous." that one I'd heard a lot so it was kinda lame now but I laughed anyway… for ironic purposes.

"McLovin'." the simple word sent John into another fit of laughter. "I'll be Burger King and you be McDonald's. I'll have it my way and you'll be lovin' it." that really made his face get bright.

"That shirt is very becoming of you. Although, if I were on you I'd be cumming too." I actually looked down at my shirt to see which one I was wearing. My usual outfit, of course, and my loose jacket hid what was under it anyway. Made me wonder if he actually liked it or if he was just saying that because it's a stupid pickup line. Speaking of things he liked.

"I heard you like magic, well bend over and watch my dick disappear." that's where he lost it and started laughing uncontrollably, holding his stomach and leaning forward and… just by the position he was in, I almost wanted to ask if he was alright because it looked like he was holding himself rather than holding his sides in pain due to laughing too hard and… for a moment, I wasn't really sure if he was actually laughing rather than crying. It made me worry.

"What are we doing?" he asked as he calmed down, wiping at his eyes a little.

"I don't know. Sitting on curb all banged up, spewing out lines like my rhymes." I chuckled a little at myself before clearing my throat as it had started to feel kinda scratchy. "Anyway, what are we gonna tell the girls we're doing? Cause ya just know Jade's gonna bitch at us for not showing." I would like to be honest in this case but John still hasn't told the girls about the bullying and if he didn't want them to know yet, if at all, I wasn't going to be the one to spill it.

"We had an issue with some assholes?" he shrugged. "It won't be the complete truth but it's better than being beat again."

"I guess." I chuckled, knowing that's exactly what they'd do. "They're still gonna kick our asses though." regardless of all my efforts to keep him in a good mood, he stared down at his lap as he curled on himself a bit more, his smile faltering.

"Yeah…"

"What? Hey, man, not cool. I just got you cheered up." I sighed in aggravation, trying to figure out what to do now. I rubbed my head, my features becoming a little more frustrated. "Look," I started, really begging to whatever God or Gods there may be that I don't fuck this up. "About those fuck nuts, just forget it." my fingers fumbled as they rolled over the strings of my jacket out of nervousness though I stopped the action when I noticed I was doing it. "Everyone has their differences and some people are gonna hate. But you can't let that get you down and stop ya, you have to get up and fight back." I felt my face heat up a touch. "I know you must've been scared so I'm glad you were able to get passed that and stick up to your bullies because I was in trouble and I guess… I don't know." hotter. "It's a step in the right direction and I guess I'm proud of you." not sure how bad it was but I was blushing and when I dared to peek over at him, he was too. He was just staring at me with widened eyes and that deep crimson color lying softly over his cheeks. It made me uncomfortable, mainly because I couldn't tell if I had said something wrong or if I had said something right.

I let out a sigh of relief when he looked back down at his lap with a smile on his lips.

"Well I couldn't just sit there and let you take the heat for my problem. I had to do something."

"That way of thinking is another step." I smirked, trying to regain my confidence as the heat in my face started to fade. I was so glad that I had actually managed to help him opposed to making everything worse like usual. "Hey I'm tearing up here man; let's go get some ice cream to celebrate this shit." John looked at me again and smiled, agreeing to that as he stood up and offered his hand to me which I took, accepting his help to get onto my feet. "My treat." I added as I brushed myself off a little though it did no good.

"Nah, that's fine, I can pay for myself…" he trailed off when he felt his pocket. He quickly checked all the others and sighed, cursing under his breath. Forgot his wallet. I hid a smile as I shook my head.

"I wouldn't let you pay anyway. I said I was gonna buy you a deliciously frozen treat so that's just what I'm gonna do."

"Sorry." he chuckled a bit nervously and I shrugged it off as we started walking. "So Dave, I've been wondering…"

"Yeah?"

"What were you doing all the way out here?" I slumped a little at the question.

"No reason. I thought I'd get some exploring in before I went over to the school." I answered and his head slowly turned to me, a knowing look on his face. Shit. Don't say it. Don't say it Egbert, I'll kill you. I swear I will.

"You got lost, didn't you?"

"Pfft! No! No… don't tell Bro…" I surrendered and John laughed.

"Don't worry, you're secret's safe with me." he giggled but somehow that only made me feel less safe, I wasn't sure if it really was safe or if he'd hold it over my head later. The other slipped his hands into his pockets, a wide satisfied smile curling on his lips. I sighed, feeling irked at this situation but I shook it off to grab for my phone when it vibrated in my pocket, playing 'Pretty Rave Girl.' I looked at it for a moment before ignoring it, simply putting it back into my pocket and letting it ring which earned an odd glance from the boy at my side but he didn't question it.

"So what kind of ice cream do you like? And how much farther do we have to walk? I'm hungry." I asked, continuing to ignore my phone.

"Plain old vanilla is fine by me." he looked around a little before pointing forward so I followed his direction to see an ice cream parlor.

"Sweet!" I exclaimed, beginning to walk a little faster. "Maybe we'll get some fries too."

"Their fries are really good." John chuckled, quickening his steps to keep up with me. We walked in silence the rest of way and had agreed to eat some fries there and get the ice cream on our way out to eat on the way back to the school. We took a two person table and waited for our fries in a comfortable silence, ignoring the stares and questions as to why we were all bruised up.

When they arrived, we thanked the lady that brought them out as she left. I added ketchup to the small plastic container of mayo before mixing the sauces together with a small french-fry.

"I think it's so stupid that nobody ever has any god damn fry sauce." I grumbled as I finished making my own and John chuckled at me.

"Most people don't appreciate the taste of good fry sauce."

"Fuck those people. Pink sauce is the best." I stated with a shrug before tossing the fry I used to stir said sauce into my mouth. "Oh my god, who salted these? An angel?" I exclaimed as I looked into the container as if I could find the holy creature within it.

"I told you they're awesome!" John replied happily as he began eating. I sighed heavily when my phone started ringing again, playing the same song as before. I could tell John wanted to ask who was calling me and I why I wasn't answering but he didn't so I didn't tell because I had questions of my own.

"So Egbert, what we were talking about back there…" I trailed off when I saw John's face turning a bright red and raised a brow in question.

"Um… I'm sorry Dave but I don't roll like that."

"What?" I asked in shock at what he was saying. Not really the words just the timing. I mean seriously, just- what?

"Sure I think you're really cool and all but I don't think of you like that because I'm not a homosexual." he explained and I just sat there, staring at him with the oddest expression.

"What the fuck are you talking about John?" I finally asked and he looked at me obviously confused.

"Weren't you talking about the pick-up lines thing?"

"No… I was talking about the bullying thing." I said and his blush darkened in embarrassment.

"Oh… you were talking about… and I was… and I thought that you…" he slowly mumbled, his voice getting lower before he just hid his head in his arms.

"Oh man, you're such a dork." I laughed.

"Shut up!" he ordered with a muffled voice so I held my hands up in surrender.

"Alright, it didn't happen." I answered calmly. "Your secret's safe with me." I added with a smirk. He looked up a little and smiled at me and at the words he himself had uttered just a few minutes ago.

"Thanks." I nodded and we both started for the fries again.

"Anyway, does your dad know?" I asked, not really being one to sneak around the corners. He shook his head.

"Well…" he stopped to reconsider his answer. "He sort of knows. He knows that I get picked on but he doesn't know how bad it is." I nodded in understanding before we continued eating in silence.

**~*John Egbert*~**

I inconspicuously peeked at Dave in between bites, trying to figure out what had changed. I felt… more drawn to him. It was weird. I started looking at him more, noticing so much more about him than I had before. The way he holds the fries, how his strong jaws moves up and down as he chews, and the steady rise and fall of his chest as he breathes. These are all small things that aren't normally paid any attention so why was I suddenly so attentive to Dave's every movement?

"Like what you see?" my widened eyes moved up to meet Dave's sunglasses and I felt my cheeks get hotter as I shook my head, knowing I had been caught staring.

"No! No, I was just thinking about something." I corrected him. It wasn't a lie; I was just avoiding telling him the truth. The look I received was one of both confusion and false pain.

"So I'm not devilishly handsome?" he teased, bringing his hand up to his chin and smiling like an asshole on TV. That made me want to start laughing but I needed to think of ways to dodge the question, knowing that I was in trouble no matter what my answer was.

"Did you know that people die if they are killed?" I blurted out and he looked dumbstruck for a moment before laughing.

"What the hell? Yes. Yes, I'm aware that people die when killed."

"And did you know that fun things are fun?" he nodded and I smiled at myself. Mission Avoid Dave's Question: Accomplished.

"Speaking of fun things, do you like riding roller coasters?" he asked, before eating another fry. I nodded, smiling widely though it faltered when the blonde's eyebrows rose suggestively. "You should try riding me." I froze with my mouth agape and my eyes wide. The other laughed, pointing at me. "Oh my god dude, you should see your face!" he exclaimed as I stared for a few more moments before going back to hiding my face though I looked up again when he suddenly growled. The familiar song reached my ears a second later. His phone was ringing again and I knew it was the same person that's been trying to get ahold of him. I wondered who it was. I expected him to just ignore it like he has been but he answered it instead though with a very irritated voice. "Yes, Dear, what is it? … Get your thong out of your ass and chill." after another few seconds, he chuckled and shook his head. "Yeah, alright. … On it. … We will be. … Alright, bye." with that he hung up and slid his phone back into his pants pocket as he stuffed a few fries into his mouth. "Kay let's finish up these fries and head over to the school." he spoke calmly but somehow I just knew he was still irritated at whoever that was which I was _really_ curious to find out now. I huffed and copied his actions, irked at the fact that he wouldn't just tell me.

We finished up the fries and ordered our ice cream, two vanilla cones to go, before making our way back to the school though I knew we were already too late to watch the girls. I stared at the buildings we passed as we walked. I ate away at the cone in my hand though there was still a lot of the frozen treat exposed to my tongue. I finally looked back at Dave, noticing that he had eaten more than I had.

"Thanks again for the ice cream." I offered a smile and he just nodded. So much for that conversation. "So…" I sucked in a breath and just asked. "Who's your pretty rave girl?" he only smirked and shook his head lightly.

"Don't know why you're asking, you've already met them." he simply said as he went back to eating his desert. I huffed again, upset that he still wouldn't tell me after I asked and that I was left with yet another dead conversation. Though if I've already met them… maybe it's Rose or Jade? I kind of doubted it but I couldn't rule them out just yet. I contemplated who else it could be but I didn't have a clue. The thoughts of him having someone though… for some reason… it made me feel really sad.

I jumped when something cold pressed to my face before it pulled away as Dave began to laugh. My fingers rose to my face and came back with ice cream on them. I smirked as I scooped up some ice cream and rubbed it on the blonde's cheek before stepping to the side a bit with a smile on my face. He seemed a little surprised by the cold but I suddenly got a relieved feeling from him but why? There was a gentle smile on his lips and I briefly wondered if he was worried about me. He stepped next to me again to walk at my side, his free hand going into his pocket as he pushes me a little with his elbow so I gently pushed him back. Neither of us had bothered to wipe the ice cream off our faces as we finished off our cones. Dave finished his first and turned to press his palm to my forehead as if he was hitting me but it was very soft.

"You're it." he smirked, jogging ahead a little before walking backwards, waiting for me. I ate the last of my cone and ran to chase him.

... ... ...

I ran as fast as I could toward the school since we were practically there now. Dave was 'it' and this game had turned into a bit of a race. We were trying to get there as fast as we could and whoever was 'it' when we got there, lost. And I intended to win. I could see Rose, Jade, and Dave's brother standing out by the front doors and was about to call to them when a sudden flash of red and white stopped me. I was suddenly face to face with Dave Strider.

"Holy shit- Dave that's cheating!" I complained though I was laughing when he tapped my head, saying that I was now 'it'.

"Like I care, I still win." he laughed with me as he turned around and we started walking together again.

"Do not." I grumbled and he changed the subject.

"So are you McGorgeous and I'm McLovin' or was it the other way around?" he asked, slinging an arm over my shoulders.

"I think you were McGoegeous." I corrected him and he nodded.

"I think you should be McGorgeous cause McLovin' fits me better." he teased me again and I rolled my eyes dramatically.

"So now I'm not good enough?" I mocked a hurt expression.

"I already told you that you have-"

"Where have you two been?" Jade interrupted Dave as she marched over to us. As if just noticing that they were there, Dave's arm removed itself from around my shoulders which made me feel a little abandoned. I looked up at him to see that his smile had disappeared too. Was he trying to act as if that hadn't happened? "Oh my god! What happened to you?" the tone of her voice had changed when she saw the scuffs and bruises we were covered with.

"We're fine Jade." I reassured her.

"Sorry Jade, I got jumped by some assholes wanting to play 'take on the new kid' and John came to back me up." Dave explained smoothly.

"It seems you still got beat up." Rose inquired as she stepped up to Dave to rub some dirt off his cheek. "And your face is sticky." she added, chuckling and shaking her head a little. Dave and I looked at each other for a moment before rubbing at our faces, trying to wipe off the ice cream we had forgotten.

"He was doing great until I showed up, really." I told them and Dave sighed.

"Whatever John, you did fine." he argued, pulling the bottom of his shirt up to wipe his face on. Thinking that was a good idea, I did the same thing.

"You had to protect me more than a dozen times."

"You're still a noob so it's understandable. I'm the one with the fighting reputation here so you shouldn't be worried."

"Why do you think I'm trying to use myself to make you look better?"

"Well that doesn't mean you should put yourself down for me, I can handle myself."

"Don't say I didn't try." I shrugged as we put our shirts down, hoping that was enough.

"That doesn't explain the sticky shit on your faces." Dave's brother interjected and neither Dave nor I dared to look at each other, knowing exactly what the man was hinting at.

"Fuck you Bro." Dave finally muttered and the girls started laughing. "It's ice cream!" he insisted but they just kept laughing. He folded his arms and turned his head away from everyone else. I was embarrassed but I said nothing, knowing that if I did I would just dig us both farther into the hole we were in.

"S-sorry we missed the concert." I stuttered out and Jade stepped closer to me to wrap her arms around me.

"It's fine, I'm just glad you're okay." she said and I hugged her back.

"We'll meet up some time soon and we can play for you then." Rose stated and Dave sighed so we all turned to him. He and his brother were already staring at each other and though I'm sure I was just imagining it, it seemed like they were glaring at each other.

"Well then with that said, can we all go home now?" he called more to us but his head never turned to look away from Dirk.

"I don't see why not." Rose nodded. "You two need to clean up and get some rest. I'm sure tonight was a rough night for you both."

"And it's been a pretty long night for us too." Jade called.

"My mother will be here soon to pick us up." the blonde girl gestured to Jade and herself.

"Oh, can I go with you guys? Dad had to work late tonight." I asked and Rose nodded, saying that it was fine. I turned back to Dave only to see that he was walking away toward the parking lot. Knowing that something was wrong, I didn't stop him. I just said goodbye and he waved weakly back. Dirk said his goodbyes before following his little brother, mumbling something about how he knew he was in trouble now.

"Oh! There she is!" Jade called, pointing ahead of us to where a small white car was pulling into the school.

"I hope she's sober enough to be driving." I heard Rose mumble and I chuckled nervously, having been thinking the same thing. I didn't really know Rose's mom but I've met her a few times and she's always been drunk. This wasn't the first time I've been in the car with her behind the wheel either and… let's just say that Rose ended up driving that day regardless that she doesn't have her license yet. When the car pulled up to where we were, the three of us got in and Rose told her mom that they were taking me home as well.

The drive to my house was short and rather quiet, spare for the girls talking about the concert. I was glad that they didn't ask more about the fight, they didn't even bring it up. Maybe they knew that I didn't want to talk about it, I don't know. Either way, I was just glad that the ride was smooth- so much more than the last one.

When we got to my house, I was let out and the three girls left in the car called shouted their goodbyes out the window and I just waved back as I made my way up to the front door of my house. I unlocked it and walked in, stopping in the doorway to watch the white car pull away from the curb. When it was out of sight, I closed and locked the door, sighing contently to finally be home. I kicked my shoes off by the door where they usually waited to be used again before shrugging out of my jacket which I hung on the stair's railing as I ascended said stairs. I stretched upward as I entered my room, working my sore muscles so they wouldn't remain as stiff as they seemed at the moment. I didn't even bother changing out of my clothes before collapsing onto my bed. I never turned on a light in the house so I didn't need to bother turning them off, I could just go to sleep and that's the only thing I wanted to do. I was sore and needed to get up a bit earlier than usual so I needed to get my rest. I hadn't realized just how tired I was until my head hit the pillow. I don't even know when I drifted off, just that it didn't take long.

**~*Dave Strider*~**

Bro and I sat in silence as he drove us home. I stared out the window, never turning to him no matter how many times I felt him look at me as if just waiting. Good, he can wait and wait some more. I found the sometimes, the silent treatment was the best thing to get to him because other times when I got mad at him for something, it was funny to him. But the tense silence got to even him and I loved that. I loved that I had a least a little bit of power over him in these cases.

When we got home I hoped out of the truck and headed into the house, going for the stairs and not looking back to Bro when he called to me.

"You're not even going to yell at me?" I bit back a smirk.

"If you know that there's something I would yell at you for, then you can figure out the rest." I called down to him, biting back a smirk as I climbed the stairs to my room and closed the door behind me. Seriously though, he didn't need to say what he did. He knows I'm straight- or at least he thinks I am so why the fuck is he even teasing about the whole ice cream thing? I don't like John like that… I don't.

Fuck it, I was too tired to deal with this shit. I just wanted to go to bed. I was cold, sore, and tired. I undressed myself before slipping on a pair of red PJ pants and crawling into bed. I felt like I was forgetting something but I didn't care enough to think about it long enough to remember. I just wanted to go the fuck to sleep and forget all about today.

* * *

Alright this is as far has I've gotten so far, I'm still working on more but I just wanna say sorry if the chapter become shorter, I just extended these ones because there was so much to chapter and no good places to start and end a chapter that fit my usual chapter length but *shrugs* whatever. My usual chapters can be anywhere from 3,000 to 6,000 words. Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this fic thus far and will stay with me and continue to read!

Reviews are always fantastic! Seriously, I posted a DaveJohn birthday fic I did for Vince and the lovely reviews were what inspired me to put this up and start working on some of my old stuff. Heheh... guess I forgot how amazing it feels to have fans ^^; it's a wonderful feeling. Anyway, pretty sure you guys don't really care about this crap so... Laterz Bitches! (If that triggers you, go cry to Kankri.) Aaron, out.


	8. Chapter 8

My god, first person to review. I know you guys probably don't care about the reviews but this is too amazing so I'm going to put it in here. Skip it if you want.

_"Anonymous: I think you are doing a great job with this story, and, while it can have its low points, I find it a thoroughly enjoyable read. I find this incredibly interesting, to the point that I am skipping paragraphs at a time in order to find out what happens next, then skipping back to make sure I don't miss anything. In my opinion, you could make Dave a bit more in character, as I sometimes find it hard to see him acting the way you depict him. At the same time, you also manage to make the characters so realistic, that I struggle to believe that Hussie isn't helping you write! One more suggestion, would be to focus on your other characters as well. This isn't just about Dave and John. I know that you are spending some time with the others, it couldn't hurt to develop their characters as well. While I'm not trying to tell you how to write your story, and I'm no author myself, I just think it may benifit you to spend more time with the other mains. A suggestion would be to write from Bro's, Jade's, or Rose's POVs, as it would certainly be interesting to find out how they feel about all the events in the story. You could also use their POVs to fill in some missing scenes. All in all, I really loved reading this story, and hope to see more of it soon! In my opinion, it's an amazing story, and one I would certainly recommend reading."_

This is what I mean when I say that I'm inspired by my readers and your guys' reviews. Anonymous, thank you. I would really like to properly thank you but seeing as I can't send you a message, I'll just do it here. Thank you.

I was hoping no one would notice that I don't really use many other characters, I try though. It's just hard for me to focus on more than a few characters at a time and the girls are farther away from my own personality whereas Dave is actually the closest though I also struggle with "emotionless" people. Dave, Bro, and Ulquiorra (Bleach) give me the most trouble with it so *shrugs* I don't know, I guess I'm just trying to say that I don't do it on purpose. Anyway, thank you so much for the love and the criticism. I really appreciate it, you wonderful person you.

As usual, thank you for all your help Vince! I love you Babe!

My thanks to the rest of my readers/reviewers as well, you're all awesome! I love you all!

I'm done now, we'll get back to the story. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

~*Dave Strider*~

I slowly stirred from sleep, knowing that my alarm clock was going to be going off in just a few minutes. It was a normal thing to happen. I always woke up just minutes before my alarm went off, it was a little bizarre however that I didn't wake up if my alarm wasn't set at all. That train of thought may have continued if I hadn't glanced to my side to find a certain dark haired boy sitting by my bed, holding a McDonald's bag. I remained silent as I watched him through my shades which I had, luckily, forgotten to take off last night. He smiled when he noticed that I was awake but didn't say anything either. Two questions ran through my head. One: What was he doing here? Two: How the fuck did he even get in here.

"John?" I called to him as if questioning whether he was really there or if I was just seeing things. Maybe I was really still asleep and was just dreaming this. I've had stranger dreams before.

"Yeah Dave?" he responded with a slight nod. Nah, this was real.

"You're in my room." I stated obviously and he nodded again.

"Yeah."

"Watching me sleep."

"Right-o."

"And you don't find that weird in any way?"

"Not really." he shrugged though his eyes told me otherwise. He was really nervous. "I brought your breakfast." he said, holding up the bag and placing it next to me on my bed.

"Riiight…" I started to sit up when I stopped, groaned in disapproval, and flopped back down. Shit. My arm wasn't moving. "God damn it." I growled, moving my right arm over my face.

"What is it?" John questioned curiously.

"My arm's frozen." I sighed. "Go get my brother." I ordered and he wordlessly got up and left. Just what I needed, another problem. My alarm went off and I started to reach for it when another hand did that for me. I followed the arm up to the shoulder where I skipped up to the face from there. Bro. "Hey." I greeted casually.

"Morning." he greeted back before folding his arms as he stared down at me. "What's this I hear about your arm freezing?" he demanded knowingly and I chuckled a bit nervously.

"I uh… didn't put my sleeve on before going to bed." I confessed and he nodded as if he already knew that. His arms unfolded so one hand could make a fist and hit me on the head. "Ow!" I exclaimed as my good hand moved up to rub the spot he had hit. I could've dodged it but I knew I deserved it so I didn't bother and also because I knew he would've chased me until he landed a blow.

"Get in the shower, get ready for school, put your sleeve on- leave it on, and meet me downstairs." he ordered before starting to leave.

"Asshole…" I grumbled after him and John laughed.

"He's just looking out for you."

"I know…" I sighed as I got out of bed, heading over to my dresser to grab some clean clothes. I didn't say anything else as I walked into my connected bathroom and closed the door. It was weird to know that Egbert was just on the other side of the door while I was going to be showering but I was actually more worried about leaving him alone in my room. What if he broke something? My turntables were still covered up because I haven't used them since we moved here so what if John got a little curious and something happened to them? I didn't quite feel like killing him so… let's just hope nothing happened.

As I exited the shower, I wrapped one towel around my waist while another went over my head to start drying my hair. It was hard to do all of this with just one arm but I managed well enough. It wasn't until I started shuffling through my clothes that I realized I had forgotten to grab a pair of pants. How the hell you forget to grab pants when going into the shower is beyond me but I guess I managed that too. I sighed as I put my shades on and slipped into my boxer-briefs before wrapping the towel back around my waist and went for the door to go back into my room but decided to brush my teeth before leaving.

When I was done, I exited my bathroom to step back into my room where I found John sitting in the same spot I had left him. I glanced over to my turntables but the sheet over them hadn't been touched. I looked back at John and nodded slightly to myself, thinking about how well behaved he was.

"What?" I questioned when I realized that he was staring at me. He shook his head lightly and looked away.

"Nothing." he quickly said though his face was red.

"If this is embarrassing for you then you can leave but this _is_ my house and my room so if I wanna walk around in a towel then I'm going to." I stated as I moved back to my dresser, pulling the towel on my head down so it rested across my shoulders.

"I-I know that, I just wasn't really expecting that to be all you came out in." he defended himself and I chuckled as I pulled a pair of pants out of my dresser. I grabbed my other clothes from the bathroom and tossed them onto my bed.

"Well then with that out of the way, I have a question for you, _McGorgeous_," I added that last part with a smirk and he smiled, rolling his eyes. "What did you bring me?" I asked as removed both towels from my body. I noticed John's face redden a lot more and chuckled a bit. Did he really think I would take them off if I had nothing on under? I grabbed my pants and started to put them on but again, I found that my task was challenging with just one arm.

"W-well… uh, _McLovin'_, everything you asked for." he stated and I shot him a confused look, completely forgetting that I had told him what to bring me.

"Oh. Okay, thanks." he just nodded. I managed to get my pants and my socks on well enough while the sleeve was a bit tougher but my shirt was just being a bitch.

"Here, let me help." John called as he finally got up and stepped closer to me, having watched me struggle long enough.

"I got it." I snapped out of frustration but he didn't back down. I felt one of his hands brush against my shoulder as he grabbed the end of my shirt and straightened it over my body while the other took hold of my left arm and guided it through the fabric and into the sleeve before he backed off and let me get the rest since I was able to. "Thanks…" I grumbled, feeling like a toddler that needed help dressing. John said nothing and just nodded. I turned and went back into my bathroom to put the towels in the dirty clothes hamper and do my hair. "Best get downstairs." I called to John as I walked back out to him, watching him though he never looked back up at me, seeming to think the ground was more interesting. I walked passed him and he followed me out of my room and down the stairs. I asked him to hand me something from the bag and when I received a snack wrap, I started to eat it. "What are we doing Bro?" I called though he wasn't in any of the rooms on the ground floor. John gave me an odd look but I knew he was around.

"You're going to wear that sleeve until either your arm unfreezes on its own or I finish your new material. Whichever comes first." he answered, suddenly appearing in the doorway next to us. John jumped and covered his mouth before he could make any sound.

"I don't like the options, are there any others?" I asked as I walked passed him to move into the living room and flop down on one of the couches.

"No, you brought this upon yourself so you're going to live with it." Bro answered as he sat next to me with a sling in his hands which he started to put my left arm in.

"Damn."

"But Dave," John started to get our attention. "Didn't you say that's what would happen if your arm froze?" Bro looked questionably between us and I sighed deeply. "Yesterday when I asked what would happen if your arm froze, you said it would be stuck in a sling until Dirk finished your new stuff since he has to reconnect everything and it would be a pointless to do it all twice." Bro now looked at me, a small smile on his face though he tried to hide it.

"Aw my Lil Man's growing up and thinking things through." he joked and I rolled my eyes. "So why did you ask if you already knew?" he asked a touch suspiciously and I cleared my throat a little before speaking.

"Well I gotta keep you on your toes, old man." I laughed and that earned me another smack to the head but when I dodged it, he didn't come after me.

... ... ...

I ate my breakfast in the car on the way to school and of course, the girls flipped their shit when they saw the sling but I reassured them that my arm wasn't injured, the mechanics just froze up and without those functioning properly my arm was kinda useless. Just goes to show that I wouldn't really have an arm if it wasn't for Bro.

The day just seemed to blow over my head. I hadn't bothered going to lunch, not having felt hungry. Instead I sat outside under a tree and tried to relax. My eyes were closed and the gentle breeze flowed passed me and if I listened close enough, I could swear it was like a voice. A soft voice that left a cold sensation on my face as it passed. It was quiet and I liked that… it seemed peaceful and I liked that too. It was a big change from the usual noise I was always so used to living in Texas. But this silence… it was nice.

I nearly growled when footsteps intruded upon my moment and I opened my eyes as I turned to see Rose walking over to me so she could sit next to me.

"Hello Dave."

"Hey." I responded smoothly, folding my arm under my head and closing my eyes again. I tried to catch the wind's voice once more but it was gone, chased away by this girl. I sighed deeply, knowing it wouldn't come back.

"What are you doing out here by yourself?"

"I just don't feel like hanging around a bunch of people today." I answered with a sigh, looking over at her with a bored expression. "Something wrong with that?"

"No. I just thought I would come check up on you before the bell rang." she simply responded, her head tilting up to look at the clouds overhead. "I suspect a storm will hit us tonight." I looked up at the sky. It didn't look like it was anywhere near even sprinkling but somehow, I knew better than to doubt her. I lay back on the grass beneath me and readjusted to get a bit more comfortable as I closed my eyes once more.

"Great, looks like I've got a date with my room when it hits." I felt Rose's gaze turn to me.

"Why do you want to stay in?" she asked as though it was unusual for someone to not like getting wet. I actually wasn't planning on staying inside; in fact, I was planning on doing the exact opposite. I'd most likely be up on the roof the entire time, just sitting up there under the rain. I used to do that when it would rain in Texas. I'd just sit up there until it stopped. Sometimes Bro would join me and sometimes we would talk, other times we'd be silent or he would stay inside and do whatever the hell it is he does.

"Do I need a reason?" I questioned, not opening my eyes to see her.

"Well John, Jade, and I… sometimes we'll get together during a big storm and we'll play in the rain and tell stories and have fun." she started and I knew where she was taking this so I stopped her there.

"Dragging me into one of your friend tradition activities is enough, don't you think?"

"I… yes, I suppose you're right." she sounded disappointed but didn't say anything else. The rain was kind of my time… and I didn't really like to spend that time with anyone else other than Bro.

We sat in silence until the bell rang. I stood up and offered my hand which she accepted, allowing me to help her to her feet before she brushed herself off.

"Maybe the next storm." I stated and she smiled at me, nodding slightly though said nothing as we made our way inside together. We parted ways at the second hall and I continued on to my last class of the day, somehow managing to forget that John and I shared this class. I seriously don't know how I forgot, he's the reason I'm still in this class. Did I seriously just think that? Whatever. "Hey Egbert." I greeted him as I took my seat.

"Hi Dave!" he beamed at the sight of me.

"So Rose says there's a storm coming."

"Yeah, she already told me." he nodded. "We're planning on meeting up for this one. There's this park we like to go to, it's near this big hill on the north side of town and we play a lot of water games and stuff. It's really a lot of fun, you should come."

"Sorry," I shook my head. "I plan on locking myself in my room." I shrugged, sitting back against my chair. He slumped and pouted.

"Why? It's going to be so fun and you're a part of the group now so it wouldn't be right to do this without you." he complained and my eyes widened. I was… a part of their group? Why else would they invite me to their activities? I guess I just thought they were just being nice to the new kid but… this is something else entirely, wasn't it? They actually thought of me as a friend. I looked down at my desk and remained silent, not knowing how to respond. "Dave?" John questioned but I still remained silent. "Dave? What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." I stated to get him to leave me alone. Luckily he caught the hint and backed off but to my surprise, he didn't shy away from me like the last time something like this happened. He continued talking, rambling on about various things and though he thought I wasn't listening, he continued on and on like he was perfectly content to just talk to me. And… and I did listen. It was… nice. To just have him talk and not expect me to answer. It was like he knew this is what I needed. Someone to just talk to me.

"We're meeting up to practice today and she's really excited about it for some reason but I don't really care. It's just a stupid play." John shrugged before going silent. After a few minutes of his voice being absent, I looked over at him expectantly only to see that he had a knowing smile on his face as if pleased to see that I had really been listening. "Thank you, by the way." I looked at him confused.

"For what?"

"For keeping my secret." his voice was low but his smile was sincere. It took me a moment to realize he was talking about the bullying. I had promised not to tell anyone.

"Not my business to tell." I shrugged as I leaned back, folding my arms over my chest the best I could with one in a sling.

"Thank you." he mumbled again. It was low enough that a normal person probably wouldn't have picked it up but I wasn't a normal person.

"What are you thanking me for this time?" I asked and his widened eyes shot to me and the blush I hadn't realized was on his cheeks darkened. He looked away from me, beginning to roll his thumbs over each other.

"Uh… well… you know, yesterday."

"Riiight." I nodded slightly. Great, he was still worked up over that though he didn't seem distressed about it anymore; he just seemed grateful and a bit… envious? "Thanks for backing me up." I briefly thought about attempting to give him a smile but decided not to, feeling it wasn't really needed. I didn't want him getting all down in the dumps again thinking he was only in the way so he needed a little encouragement but words were enough for now.

"No problem!" he beamed and I looked elsewhere before I could start laughing from that dorky look on his face. "What?" he demanded and I just shook my head as I started packing up my stuff seeing as the bell was going to ring in a few minutes.

"Thanks…" I repeated quietly, a little disbelieving that I was actually thanking someone for something like this.

"Huh?"

"For talking to me. It was… nice- of you for doing that, I mean." I stumbled a bit for my words, keeping my eyes averted from his as I felt my face heating up ever so slightly. He was silent for a little while so I glanced up at him just as the confused look left his face to be replaced with a bright smile. So cute.

"You're welcome, Dave. I'm glad my pointless rambling helped you in some way." I blushed a bit harder at that. God, this kid was such a dork.

... ... ...

I stood out on the balcony of the room across my bedroom. The rain had picked up and I had my head held high to meet it. My shades lay on my bed in my room, waiting for me to leave the rain and return to them. I sighed contently. This was my time… my time. All this time I held it in… no one would know… that I was crying. Even while Bro was sitting right next to me I was able to cry and he didn't know and if he did, he never said anything about it and I'm pretty sure that's because he does the same thing. The rain ran down my face, cooling the heat of my tears as they fell from my eyes. The rain assured that no one would know and I trusted it and took comfort in it.

A small knock on the door leading into the room he was in had me turning around to watch Bro walk in, taking his hat and shades off and leaving them on the ground where they wouldn't get wet before he stepped through the open glass doors to join me in the rain.

"You should go." was all he said as he closed his eyes and lifted his head so the rain could hit his face only to roll off of it. I lowered mine.

"This is my time…" I replied solemnly.

"This isn't the only time it's ever going to rain. You have to remember that it rains a lot here so it's not like you have to spend every second in it." he explained and I nodded. "Or by yourself." he added and I didn't respond. He had a point and I did want to go… but something in me just didn't want to be around them at all. Never again. In honesty… I knew the reason. I'm afraid to have friends. I'm insecure and afraid of getting hurt. I'm no good with emotions. While I can hide them very well, I can't control them. I didn't want anyone stirring me up worse than I already was. "A few friends will be good for you." Bro said softly and I looked up at him through my hair which had fallen over my eyes. Dude was a fucking mind reader.

We fell to silence after that and just listened to the rain as it landed on every available surface it could reach and spread its cold touch to.

After a while longer I felt his hand on my arm but when I started to look up, my face met his chest and his arms moved to wrap around me. He said nothing and that was oddly comforting. I accepted and returned his embrace.

"Just give them a chance and I'm sure they'll prove it to you." he whispered as he rested his chin on the top of my head. I closed my eyes and just listened to his heartbeat.

~*John Egbert*~

I sighed in relief when Jade and I finally agreed that we were done rehearsing for now. My eyes hurt from reading so much but at least I had the majority of my lines memorized now. When you do just about anything with Jade, she did not mess around. Nothing gets half-assed and if it does, she will get on you until it's done the way she sees fit. So a bit of advice: if you can't handle some strict discipline, don't work with Jade.

I stared out the window, watching the water lightly fall from the sky to the ground. The rain was always so calming to watch. My thoughts took an unexpected and sharp turn towards a certain mysterious blonde boy with pale skin. Why wasn't he coming tonight? He just moved here so it's not like he could really have anything else to do. Even if he was still unpacking, he could spare an hour or two. He said he was locking himself in his room but somehow, I didn't believe that. Maybe he just didn't like the rain? Maybe he didn't want to get wet… maybe he had plans with his brother… or maybe… maybe he just didn't want to hang out with us. Maybe that was it. Why did that simple thought make me so sad?

"I really wish Dave was coming with us tonight." I sighed, my eyes remaining out the window.

"Why?" Jade asked after she finished drinking from her water bottle. I shrugged and turned to her.

"Because he's our friend and part of our group now. I mean, yeah, we've always gone when it was just us three and Dave hasn't even been with us for one storm and yet… it feels like something's off with him not coming." I explained and Jade smiled a bit sadly.

"I understand." she mumbled as her eyes moved down to her lap. "Rose and I were actually talking about this earlier." she chuckled but the sound held no joy. "It's strange, isn't it? That we all feel the same way about him but sometimes it seems like he couldn't care less about us?" I saw tears in her eyes and wanted to do something about it but I couldn't find the words. How could I help her when I was thinking and going through the same thing? "Sometimes I feel like he's just putting up with us so... maybe it's better if we leave him alone?" at what Jade had said, my head fell low. I remained silent as I turned a bit to look out the window again. I didn't want her to know that I was thinking the same thing. It was such a sad thought that he was only pretending to be our friend. When I had brought up that he was our friend and that he was a part of our group… he fell silent. Did that mean he really was just playing us?

I looked back at Jade when she sighed, looking at me with worried eyes.

"I get it and all but..." she hesitated but eventually continued. "Is that the only reason you're going to miss him tonight?"

"Yeah… what other reason would there be?" damn. My voice sounded unconvincing even to myself.

"It's okay, you know." she looked back down at her lap as she started playing with her thumbs. "It's not like I would hate or judge you..." she trailed off and I didn't pick up the conversation for a few moments. The silence was short but tense.

"What are you talking about?" I knew what she was talking about. She was implying that I had romantic feelings for Dave, it wasn't the first time. I was freaking out about it this time though! I mean… I was starting to realized that maybe… maybe I did? No, that's insane! I'm not a homosexual! Either way, I thought I had been hiding it well! I noticed Jade blush and wondered what she was thinking. Whatever it was, she seemed to be really focused on it. Oh… she was probably trying to figure out what to say without causing me to throw another one of my 'I'm not a homosexual' tantrums. Though I wasn't outwardly expressing it, one was going on in my head.

"If there was another reason that you'd want him to be with us, it's probably something important and I just want you to know that I'm always here to listen if you ever want to talk about it- or anything at all." she finally said and I could hear the nervousness in her voice. I didn't say anything as I thought over her offer. It _would_ be nice to actually get it off my chest and tell someone. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair.

"You're right. There is another reason." I admitted and she smiled but remained quiet as she waited for me to continue. She probably didn't want to risk saying anything that would make me change my mind and take it back. I spoke slowly, not wanting to reveal too much too soon. "It's important- very important… to me at least it is, I don't know about him…" I trailed off and noticed Jade leaning in a little, waiting for me to continue. "I didn't think it was a big deal until last night." a small smile tugged at my lips as I recalled the memories of the events that unfolded. "Dave and I had-" I stopped talking when a knock on the door sounded throughout the room. Jade's face fell, clearly upset that someone, most surely Rose, had interrupted our talk. Regardless, her stood and went to answer the door only to return a moment later with Rose.

"Hello John." she smiled at me and I returned it as well as a small greeting. The blonde seemed as excited as ever. She always got really excited when it rained, she just loved the stuff. She could go on and on and on about it if given the chance. I stood up and even though I stopped talking about it, the conversation with Jade was playing through my head. I thought of how it could possibly go and I couldn't seem to imagine anything Jade could say that would help me with my feelings. I felt my heart beat a bit faster when I thought about some of mine and Dave's closer moments. I really hoped I wasn't blushing. "I have all the stuff prepared if you guys are ready to go."

"Yeah, we're ready." Jade nodded as she turned to smile to me.

"Yeah. All set." I nodded as well. I quickly slipped my shoes on and walked out of the house with the girls.

The walk to the park we went to was about ten minutes but we filled it with small chatter, mostly about what we were going to play and when we should head home and such. We ended up getting so distracted with our conversation that we didn't get anything figured out!

Upon arriving at the park, all three of us noticed someone sitting up on the pole above the swing set. We looked at each other, wondering who it was. Usually no one went outside when it started raining this hard and here this person was- in our hangout park no less. My eyes widened as we stepped closer to the person. Their left arm was stuck in a sling and they wore a familiar outfit made up of the colors: red, white, and black. The rain had soaked very bit of him and made his clothes cling to his skin, the white of his shirt was nearly completely see through to reveal the toned shape of his torso. His skin seemed paler when met with the cold and his hair had fallen from its usual neat manner. His head was titled up to the sky and it was then that I realized that- wait, was I just imagining this or was he really not wearing his sunglasses? No, they were right there in his hand.

"Hey Dave!" I jumped when Jade shouted to him as she waved an arm over her head, using the other to cup her hand around her mouth as if it would help carry her voice. I hadn't realized I'd fallen into such a trance while staring at him. Dave didn't turn to see us; instead he just continued sitting the same way, almost frozen like a statue… a very beautiful statue.

"Hey Dave! I thought you weren't coming?" I asked as I climbed up to where he was, being extra careful since everything was really wet. I smiled at him when I was safely sitting next to him though his eyes remained closed so he couldn't see them. I was really happy to see him. If he was here, it meant that he really did see us as friends and it meant that he did want to spend time with us. It meant he didn't hate us… it meant that he didn't hate me. He sighed though it kind of turned into a light chuckle as he placed his shades over his closed eyes and turned his head to face me. Damn. The mystery remains.

"Changed my mind." the way he spoke… he almost sounded confident. I wonder what he was thinking.

"What made you do that?" I pressed and his smirk grew a little. He folded his arms casually and shrugged.

"Couple of weirdoes jumped into my life and I just can't seem to shake them." I felt excitement growing in my heart. He really did want to be our friend! I looked at the girls and they had on the same excited expressions as I did. "It's like getting mauled by a pack of rabid bears." we all laughed at that. Dave jumped down and landed perfectly on his feet.

"Welcome to the pack, Dave." Rose said as she opened her arms for a hug. "Your rabies will be passed on to you by the eldest in the group." he chuckled as he accepted her hug.

"Welcome to the crazies!" Jade called in joy as she too held her arms open for Dave to hug her which he complied with. That's not fair; I wanted a hug from Dave too.

"Uh, guys…" I called as my face heated up a bit. They all turned to look at me. "A little help?" I didn't want to jump down because everything was wet and I just knew I would hurt myself. The girls kind of giggled at me and Dave chuckled as he moved to stand below me before holding his good arm up.

"Jump and I'll catch you." my face felt really hot after he said that even with the cold rain falling on it to try to cool it down. I didn't want to but at the same time, I did. I wanted an excuse to be close to him… especially since we were both soaked and… and… and I'm stopping that train of thought right there.

"Fine." I mumbled before getting ready but just as I was about to jump down, Jade's waving arms caught my eye. She and Rose were both mouthing the words 'bite him'. My face got even hotter. I was actually the youngest of us four but I guess I kind of did start this little group so I was technically the eldest of the group, as in the leader of sorts. So I had to be the one to pass the 'rabies' on to Dave which is most commonly passed with a bite so… no, I couldn't! I couldn't- it was too embarrassing!

In my little moment that I was lost in thought, my hands slipped off of the slick surface of the smooth bar I sat on and I found myself falling! The fall was short and instead of the ground, I was on something soft yet firm… and a single arm was wrapped around me. Dave had caught me. I opened my eyes, unaware I had closed them, to see that Dave's shirt had fallen a bit to reveal his shoulder. I blushed harder but said 'fuck it' and opened my mouth to bite him. His skin tasted of the rain it was covered in and while it was rather cold on the surface, I could feel the heat just below. It was so inviting… I bit him harder as my tongue gently swept across his skin, picking up a faint bit of his taste.

"Uh… John? What the actual fuck?" he asked slowly, making no move to pull away from me or to push me away from him. He just stood there with his arm wrapped around my waist and mine around his neck. I quickly detached myself from him and pulled away, holding my hands behind my back and looking down shyly. My face must be so fucking red… I was so hot I felt I had a fever. The girls busted up laughing. "I suppose this was your doing?" he asked to the girls with a sigh. They nodded as they continued to laugh; probably surprised I had even done it.

"Sorry…" I mumbled and Dave turned back to me, shaking his head.

"Don't worry about it, dude." he smirked as his hand moved to cover the mark left on his pale skin. "You had to do what you had to do to make sure I got infected. Thanks a lot." I laughed.

"You're welcome." I smiled brightly up at him and he just chuckled.

The four of us raced over to the hill and of course Dave won. Rose had come in second, Jade in third, and I brought up the rear. I wasn't really a fast runner but I made up for it in a lot of other things. The highlight of the day was definitely playing baseball in the rain. We had split into two teams of two: Dave and Rose verses me and Jade. It turns out that I was a better batter than the others- well Dave and I were on about the same level which seemed to surprise him. While he was able to hit it more accurately and more often, even with only one arm, I was able to hit it farther and make a louder boom. I've always been great at swinging things and my hand-eye coordination was really good. I was proud to be able to impress him in some way. But I couldn't help but to wonder how good he was with both arms. I probably wouldn't stand a chance.

In the end, we realized no one was keeping score and so we decided we tied.

As we all started to say our goodbyes before going our separate ways, I wanted to ask Dave if he'd like to stay over at my house but I remembered his answer the last time. While I think he was willing to trust me enough to sleep over, I didn't think that he was willing to come over without his sword and with only one arm. So I decided not to ask.

We all went home, took showers, and headed off to bed as we hoped it would still be raining tomorrow.

* * *

Okay so I guess I'm going to be doing a chapter a day. No, I don't mean that I'm gonna be posting a chapter everyday (sorry), I mean that every chapter will cover one day of the story because I noticed that that's pretty much the way I've been doing this so far so I figured I'd stick with it. So, with that said, I bid you a farewell. I wish to meet all of you in the next chapter.

~Aaron


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